Laser Welding Process: A Research Project on Quality Assurance and Control

摘要

For the industrial adoption of laser welding technology, it is important that the yards achieve full control of the process and that they and the classification societies reach a level of confidence in the technology to permit a reduced level of quality controls after the welds have been performed. This would lead to a practicable and easier implementation of the technology in the industrial field. This is the approach that two EU yards, Odense Steel Shipyard and Fincantieri, had in mind while developing, with the partnership of important EU research institutes and classification societies, the EU-supported research project Shipbuilding Laser Welds: An Integrated System for Assurance and Control of Quality (SHILWACQ). The author, who was the coordinator of the project, explains, from the point of view of an end user shipyard, how this approach was implemented following two main research lines: (1) the quality assurance line, focusing on the "defect avoidance" criterion and the "defect acceptance" (fitness for purpose) criterion; (2) the quality control line, concentrating on the on-line process monitoring and automated not-destructive-test inspection systems. The CO_2 laser welding technology for small/medium-thickness steel hull components is addressed. The article explains the activity development and the scientific results achieved by the two research lines, as well as how these results have been tested and validated in the industrial environment.