Product Code: JLA_15_2_77

Authors:
A. Ghasempoor
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Industrial Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada

P. Wild
M. Auger
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7K 3N6, Canada

R. Mueller
Powerlasers Ltd., Advanced Technologies Centre, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 2Y5, Canada

Laser welding is becoming increasingly important in the automotive industry and quality of the weld is critical for a successful application. In many cases the increase in welding speed provided by laser welding has resulted in the need for an automated, on-line weld monitoring system. This article describes a methodology for monitoring laser gear welding with the objective of detecting lack of fusion defects. The proposed system is evaluated experimentally. It is also shown that the proposed signal processing and modeling technique can be used to detect porosity in the welds. © 2003 Laser Institute of America.