A real-time ultrasound-based system for controlling robotic weld quality by monitoring the weld pool is presented. The weld penetration depth is one of the most important geometric parameters that define weld quality, hence, remains a key control quantity. The sensing system is based on using a laser phased array technique to generate focused and steered ultrasound, and an electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) as a receiver. When a pulsed laser beam is incident on the surface of a condensed matter, either the thermoelastic expansion or ablation induces mechanical vibrations that propagate as ultrasound within the specimen. Both the ultrasound generation by the laser phased array and the reception by the EMAT are noncontact, which eliminates the need for a couplant medium. They are capable of operating at high temperatures involved in the welding process. The ultrasound generated by the laser phased array propagates through the weld pool and is picked up by the EMAT receiver. A signal-processing algorithm based on a cross-correlation technique has been developed to estimate the time-of-flight (TOF) of the ultrasound. The relationship between the TOF and the penetration depth of the weld has been established experimentally and analytically. The analytical relationship between the TOF and the penetration depth, which is obtained by the ray-tracing algorithm and geometric analysis, agrees well with the experimental measurements.
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