Aluminum shows up everywhere—from airplane wings to smartphone cases, surgical instruments to car parts. If you're manufacturing any of these products, you know the struggle of getting markings that stick around. Serial numbers that fade, logos that wear off, barcodes that become unreadable—it's a headache that costs time and money.
The good news? Fiber laser systems give you three solid ways to mark aluminum that won't disappear on you:
Think of ablation as precision paint removal. It strips away surface coatings without touching the aluminum underneath, making it perfect for anodized parts. You'll get sharp white marks on dark surfaces that really pop.
Here's how it works: The laser vaporizes anodized coatings or chemical treatments like Iridite, exposing the raw aluminum beneath. Then it textures that exposed surface, scattering light to create a bright white appearance against the original coating. Dark anodized surfaces give you amazing contrast, while clear or light anodized surfaces produce more subtle results.
The process is surprisingly quick—usually two passes at 25-40 inches per second get the job done. Your first pass removes the coating using 12-15 watts at moderate speeds, then a cleanup pass at lower power brightens things up. Don't worry about protection either—a natural oxide layer forms on the exposed aluminum afterward, keeping your marks safe.
When you need markings that can survive a beating—or when you're planning to fill them with color—engraving is your best bet. It uses more laser power and slower speeds, building depth gradually to avoid messy results.
The secret to clean engraving is patience. Don't try to remove chunks of material in one go—that's how you end up with rough, slaggy bottoms that look unprofessional. Instead, remove thin layers at 5-10 inches per second. Multiple passes with different fill angles prevent material from building up at the edges while keeping your channels sharp and clean.
Continue until you reach your target depth or until the laser beam begins to lose focus in narrow channels. Most applications work fine with depths of 0.010-0.015 inches; however, you can achieve deeper depths with specialized setups and lens repositioning.
Each technique serves different needs in your production line. Ablation handles high-volume identification marking efficiently. Engraving stands up to harsh environments where marks face constant abrasion.
Our technical resource covers everything you need to know about material preparation, power settings, speed optimization, and troubleshooting common aluminum marking challenges. You'll learn how coating thickness affects your marking parameters and discover which techniques work best for your specific aluminum grades.
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