Impact of Laser Parameters on the Contrasts of Laser Direct Marked Data Matrix Symbols on Titanium Alloy Substrates

Abstract

To determine the impact of laser parameters on the contrasts of laser direct marked Data Matrix symbols on titanium alloys, a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser was used in the marking process. For this purpose, four laser marking parameters (i.e. electric current, effective vector step, Q-switch frequency, and laser line spacing) were correlated with the symbol contrast (SC). The L25 orthogonal array based on the Taguchi experimental method was adopted to determine the optimal combination levels of laser parameters for the SC, and the experimental data were statistically analyzed by multi-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA). Experimental results showed that the electric current, effectie vector step, laser line spacing have a statistically significant impact on the contrasts of laser marked Data Matrix symbols. Q-switch frequency is statistically insignificant at a 5% level. The optimal combination levels of laser parameters for the SC is where the electric current is at 26A, the effective vector step is at 0.001mm, the laser line spacing is at 0.01mm, and Q-switch frequency is at 5kHz.