SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com  
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Issue 61
 
Machining Optical Fibers Marking Glass-Filled Plastic Cutting Teflon

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.

Machining Optical Fibers

   In this application, a Synrad laser was used to melt a spherical end on a quartz optical fiber. The fiber was mounted on a rotary stage and rotated at 360 RPM with the laser centered approximately 0.25" from the fiber end. Beam delivery was accomplished by a 4" focal length lens, but the beam was defocused by 0.45" to provide a larger diameter (0.05") spot. Laser power was set at 20W and the sphere was formed by a single 2.5 second pulse. Nitrogen, at a low flow rate, was used to protect beam delivery optics from particulates and vapor damage while air exhaust removed debris generated by lasing the aluminized fiber.

A 0.022"-diameter sphere was formed on the
end of this aluminized optical fiber with 20W of
laser power. 

Marking Glass-Filled Plastic

    This plastic electrical part was marked using a 25W laser, FH marking head, and 125mm lens. The 180-micron focused spot size produced an engraved mark exhibiting good contrast on the glass-filled plastic. The 0.075"-high text mark was made with a power of 25W at a speed of 25 inches per second. Although three Mark Passes were used to increase mark contrast, total cycle time was only 0.66 seconds for the 3-line, 24 character mark.

 

 

 

0.075"-high text was marked on this glass-filled
plastic using 25W.

 

Cutting Teflon®

 

   The formed Teflon® material pictured on the left was cut using 50W of power at a speed of 140 inches per minute using 40 PSI air assist. A 2.5" positive meniscus lens was used for beam delivery, which generated a 0.004" spot with a corresponding 0.07" depth of focus. The focal plane of the lens was set up at the center of the rectangular shape to optimize available depth of focus, which provided the cut quality shown. Despite the uneven shape of the formed part, there were no problems in obtaining a clean cut. 

In general, clean cuts with some ash will result
from cutting flouropolymers with CO2 lasers. 		   Remember, some materials such as Teflon®,  can generate air contaminants such as vapors, fumes, and/or particles that may be noxious, toxic, or even fatal. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for all materials being processed should be thoroughly evaluated and the adequacy of provisions for fume extraction, filtering, and venting should be carefully considered. In some locations, it may be necessary to consult with local governmental agencies regarding restrictions on the venting of processing vapors. Review the following references for further information on exposure criteria:

 

ANSI 

Z136.1-1993, American National Standard for Safe Use of Lasers, section 7.3. 

U.S. Government's Code of Federal Regulations: 29 CFR 1910, Subpart Z. 

Threshold Limit Values (TLV's) published by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).

 

 

Browse Synrad's Applications Database

Search our online library for more applications of Synrad's sealed CO2 laser technology. Sort by material, process, or industry.

http://www.synrad.com/search_apps/Default.htm

Contact Us:

 

Synrad, Inc.

4600 Campus Place

Mukilteo, WA  98275

Tel:  1-425-349-3500

Fax: 1-425-349-3667

E-mail: synrad@synrad.com

 

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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.