Effect of Laser Scanning Velocity on Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Etching Stainless Steel
H-P. Tang, Y-P. Ding and R. Cheng
To investigate the effect of laser scanning velocity on the surface morphology, depth and width of microgroove, a nanosecond pulsed laser was employed to etch stainless steel. The experimental results show that the microgroove cross-section of stainless steel etched by nanosecond pulsed laser shows a “V” shape. As the laser scanning velocity increases, the slag accumulation at the bottom of the microgroove decreases, the surface morphology of the microgroove gradually improves and the depth and width of the microgroove gradually decrease. Although the depth and width of the microgrooves were larger at a laser scanning velocity of 10 mm∙s-1, 83.75 μm and 46.33 μm, respectively, the slag buildup at the bottom of the microgrooves was higher and the machining quality was poor. When the laser scanning velocity is 40 mm∙s-1, the microgroove depth and width are smaller, 58.18 μm and 28.61 μm, respectively, but there is less slag accumulation at the bottom of the microgroove and the machining quality is improved. Nanosecond pulsed laser etching can be applied to stainless steel surfaces to prepare microgrooves.
Keywords: nanosecond pulsed laser etching, stainless steel, laser scanning velocity, microgroove