Influence of Laser Marking on Microstructure and Corrosion Performance of Martensitic Stainless Steel Surfaces for Biomedical Applications

Abstract The medical device industry demands unique identification (UDI) tags on metallic components applied via laser marking. A common issue is that the visual appearance of marking becomes poorly legible over time due to loss contrast. Nanosecond pulsed irradiation was used grow an oxide layer two different martensitic stainless steels AISI 420F mod and 420B compare influences chemical composition steel (with without S), power density, energy input. corrosion behavior found depend strongly presence sulfur negatively affected resistance narrowed applicable window for processing parameters significantly. For sulfur-containing steel, 3?5 ?m wide craters formed surface after marking, which interpreted as thermal degradation protruding MnS inclusions resulting from process. Also, substantial cracking in observed. marked specimens suffered a thin zone below layer. This attributed Cr-depletion adjacent layer, providing Cr growing