Quality assessment in laser welding: a critical review

Quality assessment methods and techniques for laser welding have been developed both in- and post-process. This paper summarizes and presents relevant studies being classified according to the technology implemented (vision, camera, acoustic emissions, ultrasonic testing (UT), eddy current technique (ECT)) for the quality inspection. Furthermore, the current review aims to map the existing modeling approaches used to correlating measured weld characteristics and defects with the process parameters. Research gaps and implications of the quality assessment in laser welding are also described, and a future outlook of the research in the particular field is provided.

[1]  R. White,et al.  A vision system for automated crack detection in welds , 1990 .

[2]  Xiao-Guang Zhang,et al.  Defects recognition on X-ray images for weld inspection using SVM , 2004, Proceedings of 2004 International Conference on Machine Learning and Cybernetics (IEEE Cat. No.04EX826).

[3]  George Chryssolouris,et al.  A numerical approach to modeling keyhole laser welding , 2015 .

[4]  George V. Lashkia.  Defect detection in X-ray images using fuzzy reasoning , 2001, Image Vis. Comput..

[5]  Dominique Grevey,et al.  Application of near infrared pyrometry for continuous Nd:YAG laser welding of stainless steel , 2000 .

[6]  Sehun Rhee,et al.  A fuzzy pattern recognition based system for monitoring laser weld quality , 2001 .

[7]  Sonja Huber,et al.  Characteristic line emissions of the metal vapour during laser beam welding , 2011, Prod. Eng..

[8]  D. Farson,et al.  Relationship of optical and acoustic emissions to laser weld penetration , 1998 .

[9]  Holger Braun,et al.  Process Sensor Systems for Laser Beam Welding , 2012 .

[10]  Christopher Edwards,et al.  A laser–EMAT system for ultrasonic weld inspection , 1999 .

[11]  E. I. Todorov,et al.  Inspection of laser welds with array eddy current technique , 2013 .

[12]  A. Veld,et al.  Process Control of Stainless Steel Laser Welding using an Optical Spectroscopic Sensor , 2011 .

[13]  Jan Bültmann,et al.  Design of an Optical system for the In Situ Process Monitoring of Selective Laser Melting (SLM) , 2011 .

[14]  Kaibo Zhou,et al.  Real-time monitoring of laser welding based on multiple sensors , 2008, 2008 Chinese Control and Decision Conference.

[15]  I. Charles Ume,et al.  Development of automated real-time data acquisition system for robotic weld quality monitoring , 2002 .

[16]  Y. M. Zhang,et al.  Weld pool surface depth measurement using a calibrated camera and structured light , 2007 .

[17]  Paul G. Sanders,et al.  Capabilities of infrared weld monitor , 1997 .

[18]  Yoshiro Ito,et al.  Detection technique for transition between deep penetration mode and shallow penetration mode in CO2 laser welding of metals , 2000 .

[19]  Thomas B. Moeslund,et al.  Thermal cameras and applications: a survey , 2013, Machine Vision and Applications.

[20]  F. Vollertsen,et al.  Spatters during Laser Deep Penetration Welding with a Bifocal Optic , 2016 .

[21]  Michel Pilloz,et al.  The infrared thermography control of the laser welding of amorphous polymers , 2008 .

[22]  Pietro Mario Lugarà,et al.  Real-time monitoring of laser welding by correlation analysis: The case of AA5083 , 2007 .

[23]  Alexander Kaplan,et al.  An analytical thermodynamic model of laser welding , 1997 .

[24]  Wei Ya.  Laser materials interactions during cladding : analyses on clad formation, thermal cycles, residual stress and defects , 2015 .

[25]  Stephen W. Kercel,et al.  In-process detection of weld defects using laser-based ultrasound , 1999, Optics East.

[26]  Stefan Kaierle.  Process Monitoring and Control of Laser Beam Welding Measuring Quantifiable Data for Improved Processing Results , 2008 .

[27]  Arunanshu S. Kuar,et al.  Application of grey-based Taguchi method for simultaneous optimization of multiple quality characteristics in laser transmission welding process of thermoplastics , 2011 .

[28]  Jae-Do Kim,et al.  Prediction of the penetration depth in laser beam welding , 1990 .

[29]  Phiroze Kapadia,et al.  A mathematical investigation of the penetration depth in keyhole welding with continuous CO2 lasers , 1995 .

[30]  J. Bergmann,et al.  Aluminum welding by combining a diode laser with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser , 2015, Welding in the World.

[31]  C. Wang,et al.  Optimization of Nd:YAG laser welding onto magnesium alloy via Taguchi analysis , 2005 .

[32]  Jean-Pierre Kruth,et al.  In situ quality control of the selective laser melting process using a high-speed, real-time melt pool monitoring system , 2014 .

[33]  Demetrios Anglos,et al.  In situ interferometric depth and topography monitoring in LIBS elemental profiling of multi-layer structures , 2004 .

[34]  Ziqin Chen,et al.  Detection of weld pool width using infrared imaging during high-power fiber laser welding of type 304 austenitic stainless steel , 2014 .

[35]  Yong Yan,et al.  Review of techniques for on-line monitoring and inspection of laser welding , 2005 .

[36]  Sehun Rhee,et al.  Analysis of mechanism of plasma and spatter in CO2 laser welding of galvanized steel , 1999 .

[37]  Yanxi Zhang,et al.  Analysis of characteristics of molten pool using cast shadow during high-power disk laser welding , 2014 .

[38]  Shusen Zhao,et al.  Numerical simulation and experimental investigation of laser overlap welding of Ti6Al4V and 42CrMo , 2011 .

[39]  Yung C. Shin,et al.  Estimation of keyhole geometry and prediction of welding defects during laser welding based on a vision system and a radial basis function neural network , 2015 .

[40]  Florian Klämpfl,et al.  Analysis of the correlation between plasma plume and keyhole behavior in laser metal welding for the modeling of the keyhole geometry , 2015 .

[41]  Peter Norman,et al.  Analysis of the Keyhole and Weld Pool Dynamics by Imaging Evaluation and Photodiode Monitoring , 2009 .

[42]  S. Katayama,et al.  Review of laser welding monitoring , 2014 .

[43]  Seiji Katayama,et al.  Collaboration of physical and metallurgical viewpoints for understanding and process development of laser welding , 2007 .

[44]  Rudolf Weber,et al.  Effects of Welding Parameters Onto Keyhole Geometry for Partial Penetration Laser Welding , 2013 .

[45]  Larry K. Aagesen,et al.  Quantitative characterization of porosity in laser welds of stainless steel , 2012 .

[46]  J.-Y. Jeng,et al.  Prediction of laser butt joint welding parameters using back propagation and learning vector quantization networks , 2000 .

[47]  Libor Mrňa,et al.  Feedback Control of Laser Welding Based on Frequency Analysis of Light Emissions and Adaptive Beam Shaping , 2012 .

[48]  G. Chryssolouris.  Laser Machining: Theory and Practice , 1991 .

[49]  Frank Vollertsen,et al.  Keyhole stability during laser welding—part I: modeling and evaluation , 2016, Prod. Eng..

[50]  Bao Mi,et al.  Real-Time Weld Penetration Depth Monitoring With Laser Ultrasonic Sensing System , 2006 .

[51]  Stefan Kaierle,et al.  Using pulse shaping to control temporal strain development and solidification cracking in pulsed laser welding of 6082 aluminum alloys , 2015 .

[52]  T. Sentenac,et al.  Thermoreflectometry: a new system to determine the true temperature fields on surface with unknown emissivities , 2011, Defense + Commercial Sensing.

[53]  Seiji Katayama,et al.  Development of porosity prevention procedures during laser welding , 2003, International Congress on Laser Advanced Materials Processing.

[54]  Michael W. Kudenov,et al.  Review of snapshot spectral imaging technologies , 2013, Optics and Precision Engineering.

[55]  Akio Kita,et al.  Measurement of Weld Penetration Depth Using Non-Contact Ultrasound Methods , 2005 .

[56]  J. Mazumder,et al.  Visualization of a laser melt pool. , 1990, Applied optics.

[57]  Igor Smurov,et al.  Pyrometry applications in laser machining , 2001, Other Conferences.

[58]  George Chryssolouris,et al.  Manufacturing Systems: Theory and Practice , 1992 .

[59]  Xiangdong Gao,et al.  Analysis of high-power disk laser welding stability based on classification of plume and spatter characteristics , 2013 .

[60]  G. Casalino,et al.  An ANN and Taguchi algorithms integrated approach to the optimization of CO2 laser welding , 2006, Adv. Eng. Softw..

[61]  Pietro Mario Lugarà,et al.  Correlation spectroscopy as a tool for detecting losses of ligand elements in laser welding of aluminium alloys , 2006 .

[62]  Hao Zeng,et al.  Application of artificial neural network in laser welding defect diagnosis , 2005 .

[63]  Joachim N. Burghartz,et al.  A 0.25µm logarithmic CMOS imager for emissivity-compensated thermography , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference - Digest of Technical Papers.

[64]  Stefan Kaierle Dr.-Ing..  Process Monitoring and Control of Laser Beam Welding , 2008 .

[65]  Kozo Yasuda,et al.  Behaviour of monitoring signals during detection of welding defects in YAG laser welding. Study of monitoring technology for YAG laser welding (Report 2) , 2003 .

[66]  Pietro Mario Lugarà,et al.  Spectroscopic, energetic and metallographic investigations of the laser lap welding of AISI 304 using the response surface methodology , 2011 .

[67]  Young Whan Park,et al.  Process modeling and parameter optimization using neural network and genetic algorithms for aluminum laser welding automation , 2008 .

[68]  David Naso,et al.  A fuzzy-logic based optical sensor for online weld defect-detection , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics.

[69]  Dimitris Mavrikios,et al.  A perspective on manufacturing strategy: Produce more with less , 2008 .

[70]  Ronald Tetzlaff,et al.  Camera Based Closed Loop Control for Partial Penetration Welding of Overlap Joints , 2011 .

[71]  Antti Salminen,et al.  Monitoring and Adaptive Control of Laser Processes , 2014 .

[72]  A. C. Spowage,et al.  Characterisation of dissimilar joints in laser welding of steel–kovar, copper–steel and copper–aluminium , 2004 .

[73]  H. Zeng,et al.  Wavelet analysis of acoustic emission signals and quality control in laser welding , 2001 .

[74]  Phiroze Kapadia,et al.  Theoretical approach to the humping phenomenon in welding processes , 1992 .

[75]  Hana Chmelickova,et al.  Non-destructive Real Time Monitoring of the Laser Welding Process , 2012, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance.

[76]  Tarasankar DebRoy,et al.  Pore formation during laser beam welding of die-cast magnesium alloy AM60B: Mechanism and remedy controlled remelting of the fusion zone led to removal of gas bubbles, reducing porosity , 2001 .

[77]  Weiqi Wang,et al.  A Quantitative Model of Keyhole Instability Induced Porosity in Laser Welding of Titanium Alloy , 2014, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A.

[78]  S. Katayama,et al.  A Novel Stability Quantification for Disk Laser Welding by Using Frequency Correlation Coefficient Between Multiple-Optics Signals , 2015, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[79]  Matthew Douglas Rogge.  In-process sensing of weld penetration depth using non-contact laser ultrasound system , 2009 .

[80]  L. J. Miguel,et al.  Laser welding defects detection in automotive industry based on radiation and spectroscopical measurements , 2010 .

[81]  Han Guoming,et al.  Dynamic simulation of the temperature field of stainless steel laser welding , 2007 .

[82]  Adolfo Cobo,et al.  Closed-loop power and focus control of laser welding for full-penetration monitoring. , 2005, Applied optics.

[83]  M. Autric,et al.  Numerical and experimental study of molten pool formation during continuous laser welding of AZ91 magnesium alloy , 2009 .

[84]  Neil Brown,et al.  A novel approach for quality control system using sensor fusion of infrared and visual image processing for laser sealing of food containers , 2004 .

[85]  Konstantinos Salonitis,et al.  On optical design limitations of generalized two-mirror remote beam delivery laser systems: the case of remote welding , 2007 .

[86]  Min-Suk Kim,et al.  Laser Welding Quality Monitoring with an Optical Fiber System , 2003 .

[87]  Lin Li,et al.  A Comparative Study of Ultrasound Emission Characteristics in Laser Processing , 2002 .

[88]  Francesco P. Mezzapesa,et al.  Closed Loop Control of Penetration Depth during CO2 Laser Lap Welding Processes , 2012, Sensors.

[89]  Young Whan Park,et al.  Real time estimation of CO2 laser weld quality for automotive industry , 2002 .

[90]  Ecole Nationale,et al.  Laser process optical sensing and control , 2007 .

[91]  Radovan Kovacevic,et al.  A neural network and multiple regression method for the characterization of the depth of weld penetration in laser welding based on acoustic signatures , 2011, J. Intell. Manuf..

[92]  J. Tu,et al.  A model for estimating penetration depth of laser welding processes , 1996 .

[93]  J. Lippold,et al.  Solidification behavior and cracking susceptibility of pulsed-laser welds in austenitic stainless steels , 1994 .

[94]  Radovan Kovacevic,et al.  Detection of defects in laser welding of AZ31B magnesium alloy in zero-gap lap joint configuration by a real-time spectroscopic analysis , 2014 .

[95]  Fukuhisa Matsuda,et al.  Relationship between weld quality and optical emissions in underwater Nd: YAG laser welding , 2004 .

[96]  Yong Qing Fu,et al.  Laser alloying of aluminum alloy AA 6061 with Ni and Cr. Part 1. Optimization of processing parameters by X-ray imaging , 1998 .

[97]  George Chryssolouris,et al.  Depth Prediction in Laser Machining with the Aid of Surface Temperature Measurements , 1993 .

[98]  Andreas Pittner,et al.  Influence of Alloy and Solidification Parameters on Grain Refinement in Aluminum Weld Metal due to Inoculation , 2012 .

[99]  Yih-fong Tzeng,et al.  Process Characterisation of Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser Seam Welding , 2000 .

[100]  Radovan Kovacevic,et al.  A Laser-Based Vision System for Weld Quality Inspection , 2011, Sensors.

[101]  Holger Braun,et al.  NIR-camera-based online diagnostics of laser beam welding processes , 2012, LASE.

[102]  Meiko Boley,et al.  X-Ray and Optical Videography for 3D Measurement of Capillary and Melt Pool Geometry in Laser Welding , 2013 .

[103]  Sehun Rhee,et al.  Estimation of weld bead size in CO2 laser welding by using multiple regression and neural network , 1999 .

[104]  Yasuaki Naito,et al.  Effect of oxygen in ambient atmosphere on penetration characteristics in single yttrium aluminum garnet laser and hybrid welding , 2006 .

[105]  T. DebRoy,et al.  Porosity, underfill and magnesium loss during continuous wave Nd:YAG laser welding of thin plates of aluminum alloys 5182 and 5754 , 1999 .

[106]  Giuseppe Casalino,et al.  Investigation on Ti6Al4V laser welding using statistical and Taguchi approaches , 2005 .

[107]  Hamid Assadi,et al.  Prediction of solidification cracking in pulsed laser welding of 2024 aluminum alloy , 2015 .

[108]  S. Lee,et al.  Analysis of Acoustic Emission Signals During Laser Spot Welding of SS304 Stainless Steel , 2014, Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance.

[109]  Deyong You,et al.  Multiple-optics sensing of high-brightness disk laser welding process , 2013 .

[110]  Seiji Katayama,et al.  Elucidation of phenomena in high-power fiber laser welding and development of prevention procedures of welding defects , 2009, LASE.

[111]  Do-Chang Ahn,et al.  Coaxial monitoring of keyhole during Yb:YAG laser welding , 2012 .

[112]  Rudimar Riva,et al.  Ultrasonic inspection of AA6013 laser welded joints , 2011 .

[113]  E. Anawa,et al.  Using Taguchi method to optimize welding pool of dissimilar laser-welded components , 2008 .

[114]  Frank Vollertsen,et al.  Contact-less temperature measurement and control with applications to laser cladding , 2015, Welding in the World.

[115]  Alexander Kaplan,et al.  Root humping in laser welding - an investigation based on high speed imaging , 2012 .

[116]  T. DebRoy,et al.  Macroporosity free aluminum alloy weldments through numerical simulation of keyhole mode laser welding , 2003 .

[117]  Paul G. Sanders,et al.  Real-time monitoring of laser beam welding using infrared weld emissions , 1998 .

[118]  Suman Chakraborty,et al.  Probing liquation cracking and solidification through modeling of momentum, heat, and solute transport during welding of aluminum alloys , 2005 .

[119]  Akira Matsunawa,et al.  Prevention of welding defect by side gas flow and its monitoring method in continuous wave Nd:YAG laser welding , 2002 .

[120]  Michael Schmidt,et al.  Experimental approach for quantification of fluid dynamics in laser metal welding , 2015 .

[121]  J. Goldak,et al.  Numerical simulation of laser full penetration welding , 2009 .

[122]  Stewart Williams,et al.  Process control of laser conduction welding by thermal imaging measurement with a color camera. , 2005, Applied optics.

[123]  Hans Engström,et al.  Theoretical analysis of photodiode monitoring of laser welding defects by imaging combined with modelling , 2008 .

[124]  Seiji Katayama,et al.  Investigation of High-Power Fiber Laser Welding Phenomena of Stainless Steel , 2007 .

[125]  Per Gren,et al.  Correlation between photodiode monitoring and high speed imaging of the dynamics causing laser welding defects , 2008 .