Nylon® is a common material for injection molding automotive, electronic, consumer, and industrial products. Formulations containing glass or mineral fill provide additional rigidity, impact resistance, and hardness making nylon an ideal plastic for products subject to mechanical or thermal stresses.

For this application we were asked to mark a 2D Data Matrix code on an automotive component molded from a nylon formula containing a 35% glass fill. Our marking setup consisted of a SYNRAD sealed CO2 laser, an FH Series marking head, and a copy of our WinMark Pro laser marking software.

Inconel® is a type of nickel-based superalloy that contains substantial amounts of nickel and chromium. Depending on the particular blend, Inconel may contain other elements including titanium, aluminum, molybdenum, or niobium. Parts manufactured from Inconel are commonly found in aerospace or chemical processing applications where extreme heat and corrosion resistance is paramount to the integrity of the end product.

This customer application calls for cutting thin sections of large-diameter, thin-wall Inconel tubing. Each ring section is cut from a 114.3 mm (4.5”) diameter tube with a wall thickness of 0.254 mm (0.010”). Because each cut piece is less than 1.37 mm (0.054”) wide, non-contact CO2 laser cutting is the optimal choice for the manufacturing process as mechanical cutting methods lead to ring distortion as well as edge deformation.