Corrosion and chemical resistance for marked / engraved stainless steel. “laser engraving” of stainless is fusion at high temperature by laser resulting in black permanent image on steel.
Laser marks were made on type 304 stainless steel tags | |||||
similar results for type 316 stainless steel | |||||
Tags were totally immersed in the test solutions. | |||||
Exposure Time | |||||
Organic Solvents | 1 Hour | 12 Hours | 24 Hours | 1 Week | |
Gasoline | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Limonene | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Methyl Ethyl Ketone | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
N-Butanol | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Mineral Spirits | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Xylene | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Acetone | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Propylene Carbonate | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Ethanol | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
DMSO | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Motor Oil | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Acid/Bases | |||||
Hydrochloric Acid 35% | No effect | No effect | Test stopped – see notes | ||
Nitric Acid 68% | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Sulfuric Acid (conc.) | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Acetic Acid 99.5% | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Hydrogrn Peroxide 30% | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Sodium Hydroxide 25% | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Ammonium Hydroxide 20% | No effect | No effect | No effect | No effect | |
Other | |||||
Boiling H2O | Marks soaked in boiling water for 1 hr. – no effect | ||||
LN2 (Cold) | Marks dipped in liquid nitrogen – no effect | ||||
Flame (Hot) | Marks heated in a propane flame until cherry red – metal | ||||
discolors, no effect on mark. | |||||
Hot/Cold Cycling | Marks heated red hot and immediately plunged in liquid nitrogen | ||||
– metal discolors, no effect on mark | |||||
Notes: | |||||
Hydrochloric acid testing: | – Acid dissolves the steel tag and was not run over 12 hrs. long | ||||
– After 1 hr. acid dissolved 0.2767 gms off of steel tag (4.7%), | |||||
laser mark was unaffected. | |||||
– After 12 hrs. acid dissolved 1.8057 gms off of steel tag (30.6%), | |||||
laser mark was unaffected, now having a distinctly raised feel. | |||||
Sulfuric acid testing: | – Acid discolors at approximately 96 hrs., mark appears to be | ||||
slightly discolored. |