Welding GAP Control Using Infrared Sensing

摘要

The objective of the research was to develop real-time infrared sensing techniques to monitor and control the Submerged Arc Welding (SAW) process utilized by the US Navy in shipbuilding. Infrared sensors were used to measure the front side surface temperature distribution of the sections being welded. Since the thermal profile in the vicinity of the weld is dramatically affected by weld perturbations, it is possible to identify the changes in thermal distributions and use this information to monitor and control weld gaps. The sensors thus provide in-situ non-destructive weld quality information that will improve both quality and productivity* resulting in a decrease in fabrication costs. Detailed heat and mass transfer modeling was conducted to predict the thermal distribution and matched with actual experimental measurements to improve our understanding and capability to model the welding process.