Investigation of Laser Engraving Qualitative Characteristics of Al- SiC Composite Using Design of Experiments

Laser marking is an advanced technology in material processing that has a permanent effect on materials. With the use of laser engraving, the material is removed, layer by layer, in the laser path through melting displacement, ablation, and evaporation. Al-SiC is a metal matrix composite, widely used in aerospace, automobile manufacturing, and electronic packaging. Accumulative roll bonding (ARB) is one of the newest manufacturing processes of metal matrix composites, which leads to the production of materials with high strength, low weight, and great environmental compatibility. In this paper, we present the laser engraving of Al-SiC composite samples, which are produced through ARB process, using Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. A 2k factorial design is used to analyze the effect of factors, including assistant gas flow, distance of sample from beam focus location (distance), pulse repetition frequency, and pumping current on the qualitative characteristics of engraved zone (width, depth and contrast of engraved zone). Desirability function is used for optimization. Results based on experimental data indicate the optimal setting of input factors which leads to pre-specified target values of responses.