Newsletter 189: Marking Stainless Steel Nameplates, Cutting Closed Cell Foam, Marking Square Rings

SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Issue 189


Marking Stainless Steel Nameplates		Cutting Closed Cell Foam	Marking Square Seal Rings

SYNRAD's sealed CO2 lasers are used in a variety of industrial processes including cutting, welding, drilling, and marking. This news brief showcases some of the interesting materials and products that are processed daily by Synrad's line of CO2 lasers and marking heads.

Marking Stainless Steel Nameplates

This application involves marking coated stainless steel nameplates. Using a SYNRAD CO2 laser and Flyer marking head, we ablated, or removed, a textured Laser Frost coating from the polished stainless steel surface. The nameplates are created from 0.51-millimeter (0.020”) thick stainless steel and measure 203.2 mm long by 50.8 mm wide (8.0” x 2.0”).

Our marking setup consisted of a Firestar t100 laser coupled to an FH Flyer marking head. The Flyer head was equipped with a 370 mm lens that provides a 540-micron (0.021”) focused spot over the extents of the large 241 mm x 297 mm (9.5” x11.7”) mark field.

To mark the nameplates, we created a text object using the Arial TrueType® font at a Text Height of 12 mm (0.47”) and a Filled Font Resolution of 300. Marking Velocity was set to 1905 millimeters per second (75 inches/sec) at a Power setting equivalent to 80 watts. We imported the SYNRAD logo as a bitmap at a Resolution of 300 and marked it using 80 watts at 3048 mm/sec (120 in/sec).

We marked this 8” by 2” coated stainless
steel nameplate in 22.5 seconds using 80
watts of power.The text object was marked at
75 inches per second while the SYNRAD
logo was marked at 120 in/sec.

See this application in action!
(880KB) WMV

Click here to download Windows Media Player

Using these mark settings, we ablated the Laser Frost coating to reveal a highly polished stainless steel background. As seen in the accompanying photo, we created the nameplate shown in a cycle time of 22.5 seconds per mark.

Cutting Closed Cell Foam

Closed cell foam is lightweight, durable, and moisture-resistant, which makes it an ideal material for the construction industry as joint filler or building insulation. The resilience of closed cell foam means it is a smart choice for creating the custom inserts used in equipment cases to protect instruments from shock and its buoyancy makes it the best material for manufacturing flotation devices.

Our application test focused on cutting various thicknesses of closed cell foam including a laminated piece with an overall thickness of 33.3 mm (1.3125”). Our cutting setup was powered by a Firestar f201 (200 W) laser where the beam is directed through X-Y flying optics into an industrial cutting head.

We used 200 watts of power at a speed of 40
inches per minute to cut this block of 1.3125”
thick closed cell foam with 40 PSI of air assist.

Because the foam acts as a waveguide, maintaining focus over a greater distance, we chose to install a 127-mm focusing optic (with a nominal 5.84 mm depth of field) in order to gain the higher power density of the 180-micron (0.007”) diameter spot.

At a power level of 200 watts with 2.8 bars (40 PSI) of clean, dry air assist, we achieved cut speeds of 1.02 meters per minute (40 inches/min) through the 33.3 mm thick foam. The closed cell foam is cleanly cut perpendicular to the top surface with no significant taper. At this thickness however, the lower cut edge does exhibit very slight discoloration due to the large amount of material vapor being blown through the kerf.

Marking Square Seal Rings

Square and rectangular seal rings, both derivatives of the common O-ring, are used primarily in static and radial sealing applications. Square ring seals are also used as high-pressure gaskets because they outperform circular cross-section gaskets. Although square rings are manufactured on precision grinders and lathes to achieve tight-tolerance I.D. and O.D. dimensions, they begin life as extruded cylinders and so offer a more cost effective solution than precision molded O-rings.

This application involves marking a 6 mm (0.236”) long contrasting band on the O.D. of a ring seal that measures 1.9 mm (0.075”) wide. The test setup consisted of an FH Series marking head driven by our WinMark Pro laser marking software. Our marking head was equipped with a 125 mm focusing lens that provides a 180-micron (0.007”) spot size and a 3 mm (0.118”) depth of focus.

Using 25 watts of power at a speed of 45 inches
per second, we achieved high-contrast marks
on these thermoplastic ring seals in a cycle
time of 0.34 seconds per part.

In WinMark Pro, we created a 6 mm by 1.9 mm rectangle and set the Polyline Fill Type to Fill. On the Format tab, we set a mark Velocity of 45 inches per second, a Power value corresponding to 25 watts, and a Resolution of 400. The square ring, composed of a thermoplastic material, provided high-contrast marks in a cycle time of only 0.34 seconds per part.

Browse Synrad's Applications Database

Search our online library for more applications of Synrad's sealed CO2 laser technology. Search by keyword, material, or process.
http://www.synrad.com/search_apps/Default.htm

New! FH Flyer / Fenix Flyer Technical Updates

Synrad Technical Updates keep you informed of recent developments related to FH Flyer Marking Head or Fenix Flyer Laser Marker products. Sign up to receive these bulletins automatically via email at http://www.synrad.com/FH_Flyer/flyersupport_subscribe.htm

Contact Us:
Please do not reply directly to this newsletter. E-mail questions or comments to synrad@synrad.com

Synrad, Inc.

4600 Campus Place

Mukilteo, WA 98275

Tel: 1-425-349-3500

Fax: 1-425-349-3667

E-mail: synrad@synrad.com

To unsubscribe, please click here.

SYNRAD and Synrad product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of SYNRAD, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.