Process monitoring for laser welding

摘要

AS MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY diversifies, so must the methods used to monitor it. The growing use of lasers, for instance, has spawned novel process monitoring systems. Ten years ago, Spawr industries Inc., Lake Havasu City, Ariz., and Argonne (III.) National Laboratory jointly developed a process monitor for laser welding applications. Shaped like a small coffee-table book and equipped with an optics lens, the device focuses on infrared light. "If you're welding something, the weld pool emits a particular spectral emission," said Walter Spawr, president and founder of Spawr Industries and co-inventor of the Spawr laser process monitor.