Product Code: ICAL08_405

Preliminary Study on Corrosion and Wear Properties of Laser Color Marked Stainless Steel
Authors:
Petri Laakso, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland; Lappeenranta Finland
Henrikki Pantsar, Fraunhofer USA, Inc. Center for Laser Technology; Plymouth MI USA
Heikki Leinonen, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland; Espoo Finland
Dr. Aino Helle, VTT Technocal Research Centre of Finland; Espoo Finland
Presented at ICALEO 2008

Laser color marking of stainless steel has been in the
interests of different industries for some time. Still
wide use of the process is not seen on consumer
products which might be because of lack of their
usability information. Laser processing of stainless
steel surfaces creates an oxide layer on the surface.
The thickness of this layer defines how white light is
reflected from the surface. What in principle is only a
thin oxide layer on the surface can be seen as
different colors by the viewer. If this oxide layer is
thick and solid it will have good corrosion and wear
properties. Consumer products are constantly under
certain corrosion and wear. In this study, the
corrosion and wear properties of laser color marking
on AISI Type 304L (EN1.4307) austenitic stainless
steel were evaluated based on laser process
parameters and colors. The results show that the
corrosion properties of marked surface expressed as
critical pitting temperatures (CPT) depend on heat
input: coarsely the lower heat input the higher CPT.
Also scanning velocity has a remarkable effect on
CPT. The laser color marking parameters have a
significant influence on the wear behaviour of both
the surface itself and that of the counter body surface.
Laser color marking has high potential to become a
widely used technique for product marking and
decoration.