Optimization of Pulsed Nd:YVO4 Laser Marking of AISI 304 Stainless Steel Using Response Surface Methodology

Laser marking is a relatively new marking technique to identify different types of industrial products. It has many advantages over conventional marking techniques, such as no wear of tool, possibility of high degree of automation, etc. Nd:YVO4(Neodymium-doped Yttrium Orthovanadate) class 1 laser with 1064 nm wavelength having power rating of 12 W has been used for marking on AISI 304 stainless steel samples. Input parameters have been selected as laser power, scanning speed and pulse frequency of laser beam. Responses to be measured are marking width and marking depth. Response surface methodology (RSM) has been applied for design of experiment and optimization of responses. Multiobjective optimization has been done for minimization of marking width and maximization of marking depth simultaneously. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy has been done on selected samples to analyze the laser marking process. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been applied on experimental data to identify the relative significance of process parameters on the response. (c) 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.