Abstract
Quality assessment methods and techniques for laser welding have been developed both in- and post-process. This paper summarizes and presents relevant studies being classified according to the technology implemented (vision, camera, acoustic emissions, ultrasonic testing (UT), eddy current technique (ECT)) for the quality inspection. Furthermore, the current review aims to map the existing modeling approaches used to correlating measured weld characteristics and defects with the process parameters. Research gaps and implications of the quality assessment in laser welding are also described, and a future outlook of the research in the particular field is provided.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Chryssolouris G, Papakostas N, Mavrikios D (2008) A perspective on manufacturing strategy: produce more with less. CIRP J Manuf Sci Technol 1(1):45–52
Chryssolouris George (2013) Manufacturing systems: theory and practice. Springer Science & Business Media
Tsoukantas G et al (2007) On optical design limitations of generalized two-mirror remote beam delivery laser systems: the case of remote welding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 32(9–10):932–941
Chryssolouris ELKE (2013) Laser machining: theory and practice. Springer Science & Business Media
Stournaras A, Stavropoulos P, Salonitis K, Chryssolouris G (2008) Laser process monitoring: a critical review, (ICMR 08), 6th International Conference on Manufacturing Research, Uxbridge, pp. 425–435
Kaierle S (2008) Process monitoring and control of laser beam welding. Laser Technik Journal 5(3):41–43
Katayama Seiji, and Kawahito Yousuke (2009) Elucidation of phenomena in high-power fiber laser welding and development of prevention procedures of welding defects. SPIE LASE: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering. International Society for Optics and Photonics
Shao Jiaqing and Yan Yong (2005) Review of techniques for on-line monitoring and inspection of laser welding. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. Vol. 15. No. 1. IOP Publishing
Zhao H, DebRoy T (2001) Pore formation during laser beam welding of die-cast magnesium alloy AM60B-mechanism and remedy. Weld J 80(8):204–210
Pastor M, et al. (1999) Porosity, underfill and magnesium lose during continuous wave Nd: YAG laser welding of thin plates of aluminum alloys 5182 and 5754. WELDING JOURNAL-NEW YORK- 78: 207-s
Madison JD, Aagesen LK (2012) Quantitative characterization of porosity in laser welds of stainless steel. Scr Mater 67(9):783–786
Norris JT et al (2011) Effects of laser parameters on porosity formation: investigating millimeter scale continuous wave Nd: YAG laser welds. Weld J 90:198–203
Kamimuki K et al (2002) Prevention of welding defect by side gas flow and its monitoring method in continuous wave Nd: YAG laser welding. Journal of Laser applications 14(3):136–145
Harooni M, Carlson B, Kovacevic R (2014) Detection of defects in laser welding of AZ31B magnesium alloy in zero-gap lap joint configuration by a real-time spectroscopic analysis. Opt Lasers Eng 56:54–66
Katayama Seiji, Mizutani Masami, Matsunawa Akira (2003) Development of porosity prevention procedures during laser welding." Proc. SPIE. Vol. 4831
Rodil SS et al (2010) Laser welding defects detection in automotive industry based on radiation and spectroscopical measurements. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 49(1–4):133–145
Sheikhi M, Malek Ghaini F, Assadi H (2015) Prediction of solidification cracking in pulsed laser welding of 2024 aluminum alloy. Acta Mater 82:491–502
Lippold JC (1994) Solidification behavior and cracking susceptibility of pulsed-laser welds in austenitic stainless steels. Welding Journal Including Welding Research Supplement 73(6):129s
Ya Wei (2015) Laser materials interactions during cladding: analyses on clad formation, thermal cycles, residual stress and defects. Universiteit Twente
Bergmann JP, Bielenin M, Feustel T (2015) Aluminum welding by combining a diode laser with a pulsed Nd: YAG laser. Welding in the World 59(2):307–315
Gratzke U et al (1992) Theoretical approach to the humping phenomenon in welding processes. J Phys D Appl Phys 25(11):1640
Ilar T et al (2012) Root humping in laser welding—an investigation based on high speed imaging. Phys Procedia 39:27–32
Schempp P, et al. (2013) Influence of alloy and solidification parameters on grain refinement in aluminum weld metal due to inoculation. Trends in Welding Research 2012: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference. ASM International
Gade R, Moeslund TB (2014) Thermal cameras and applications: a survey. Mach Vis Appl 25(1):245–262
Tadamalle AP (2012) Review of real-time temperature measurement for process monitoring of laser conduction welding. Eng Sci Technol An Int J 2(5):946–950
Speka M et al (2008) The infrared thermography control of the laser welding of amorphous polymers. NDT & E International 41(3):178–183
Chen Z, Gao X (2014) Detection of weld pool width using infrared imaging during high-power fiber laser welding of type 304 austenitic stainless steel. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 74(9–12):1247–1254
Bardin F et al (2005) Process control of laser conduction welding by thermal imaging measurement with a color camera. Appl Opt 44(32):6841–6848
Bardin F et al (2005) Closed-loop power and focus control of laser welding for full-penetration monitoring. Appl Opt 44(1):13–21
You DY, Gao XD, Katayama S (2014) Review of laser welding monitoring. Sci Technol Weld Join 19(3):181–201
Hutter Franz X., et al. (2009) A 0.25 μm logarithmic CMOS imager for emissivity-compensated thermography. Solid-State Circuits Conference-Digest of Technical Papers, 2009. ISSCC 2009. IEEE International. IEEE
Köhler H, Thomy C, Vollertsen F (2016) Contact-less temperature measurement and control with applications to laser cladding. Welding in the World 60(1):1–9
Kim C-H, Ahn D-C (2012) Coaxial monitoring of keyhole during Yb: YAG laser welding. Opt Laser Technol 44(6):1874–1880
Huang W, Kovacevic R (2011) A laser-based vision system for weld quality inspection. Sensors 11(1):506–521
Saeed G, Zhang YM (2007) Weld pool surface depth measurement using a calibrated camera and structured light. Meas Sci Technol 18(8):2570
Zhang Y, Gao X (2014) Analysis of characteristics of molten pool using cast shadow during high-power disk laser welding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 70(9–12):1979–1988
Abt F et al (2011) Camera based closed loop control for partial penetration welding of overlap joints. Phys Procedia 12:730–738
Kawahito Y, Mizutani M, Katayama S (2007) Investigation of high-power fiber laser welding phenomena of stainless steel. TRANSACTIONS-JWRI 36(2):11
Tenner F et al (2015) Experimental approach for quantification of fluid dynamics in laser metal welding. Journal of Laser Applications 27(S2):S29003
Gao X-d, Qian WEN, Katayama S (2013) Analysis of high-power disk laser welding stability based on classification of plume and spatter characteristics. Trans Nonferrous Metals Soc China 23(12):3748–3757
Tenner F et al (2015) Analysis of the correlation between plasma plume and keyhole behavior in laser metal welding for the modeling of the keyhole geometry. Opt Lasers Eng 64:32–41
Volpp Joerg, Srowig Jennifer, Vollertsen Frank. (2016) Spatters during laser deep penetration welding with a bifocal optic. Advanced materials research. Vol. 1140. Trans Tech Publications
Purtonen T, Kalliosaari A, Salminen A (2014) Monitoring and adaptive control of laser processes. Phys Procedia 56:1218–1231
Voelkel DD, Mazumder J (1990) Visualization of a laser melt pool. Appl Opt 29(12):1718–1720
Al-Habaibeh A, et al. (2004) A novel approach for quality control system using sensor fusion of infrared and visual image processing for laser sealing of food containers. Measurement Science and Technology 15.10
von Witzendorff P et al (2015) Using pulse shaping to control temporal strain development and solidification cracking in pulsed laser welding of 6082 aluminum alloys. J Mater Process Technol 225:162–169
Dorsch Friedhelm, et al. (2012) NIR-camera-based online diagnostics of laser beam welding processes. SPIE LASE. International Society for Optics and Photonics
Dorsch F, Braun H, Keßler S, Magg W (2012) Process sensor systems for laser beam welding. Laser Technik J 9:24–28
Zeng H et al (2001) Wavelet analysis of acoustic emission signals and quality control in laser welding. Journal of Laser Applications 13(4):167–173
Li L (2002) A comparative study of ultrasound emission characteristics in laser processing. Appl Surf Sci 186(1):604–610
Lee S, Ahn S, Park C (2014) Analysis of acoustic emission signals during laser spot welding of SS304 stainless steel. J Mater Eng Perform 23(3):700–707
Kercel Stephen W, et al. (1999) In-process detection of weld defects using laser-based ultrasound. Proc. SPIE. Vol. 3852
Lott P et al (2011) Design of an optical system for the in situ process monitoring of selective laser melting (SLM). Phys Procedia 12:683–690
Vallejo, David Diego (2014) Spectroscopic investigations of plasma emission induced during laser material processing. epubli
Webster PJL et al. (2015) Three-dimensional, multi-factor monitoring and control of laser keyhole welding by inline coherent imaging
Papazoglou DG, Papadakis V, Anglos D (2004) In situ interferometric depth and topography monitoring in LIBS elemental profiling of multi-layer structures. J Anal At Spectrom 19(4):483–488
Park YW et al (2002) Real time estimation of CO 2 laser weld quality for automotive industry. Opt Laser Technol 34(2):135–142
Zhang X et al (2004) Relationship between weld quality and optical emissions in underwater Nd: YAG laser welding. Opt Lasers Eng 41(5):717–730
You D, Gao X, Katayama S (2013) Multiple-optics sensing of high-brightness disk laser welding process. NDT & E International 60:32–39
Kaplan Alexander FH, Norman Peter, Eriksson Ingemar. (2009) Analysis of the keyhole and weld pool dynamics by imaging evaluation and photodiode monitoring. Proceedings of LAMP2009—the 5th International Congress on Laser Advanced Materials Processing
Sanders PG et al (1998) Real-time monitoring of laser beam welding using infrared weld emissions. Journal of laser Applications 10(5):205–211
Sanders PG, et al. (1997) Capabilities of infrared weld monitor. No. ANL/TD/CP--93200; CONF-971149--. Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
Kim J-T et al (2003) Laser welding quality monitoring with an optical fiber system. Journal of the Optical Society of Korea 7(3):193–196
Sibillano T et al (2006) Correlation spectroscopy as a tool for detecting losses of ligand elements in laser welding of aluminium alloys. Opt Lasers Eng 44(12):1324–1335
Mrňa L et al (2012) Feedback control of laser welding based on frequency analysis of light emissions and adaptive beam shaping. Phys Procedia 39:784–791
Sibillano T et al (2007) Real-time monitoring of laser welding by correlation analysis: the case of AA5083. Opt Lasers Eng 45(10):1005–1009
Rizzi D et al (2011) Spectroscopic, energetic and metallographic investigations of the laser lap welding of AISI 304 using the response surface methodology. Opt Lasers Eng 49(7):892–898
Konuk AR et al (2011) Process control of stainless steel laser welding using an optical spectroscopic sensor. Phys Procedia 12:744–751
Sebestova H et al (2012) Non-destructive real time monitoring of the laser welding process. J Mater Eng Perform 21(5):764–769
Sibillano T et al (2012) Closed loop control of penetration depth during CO2 laser lap welding processes. Sensors 12(8):11077–11090
Zaeh MF, Huber S (2011) Characteristic line emissions of the metal vapor during laser beam welding. Prod Eng 5(6):667–678
Smurov Igor (2001) Pyrometry applications in laser machining. Laser-assisted microtechnology 2000. International Society for Optics and Photonics
Bertrand P, Smurov I, Grevey D (2000) Application of near infrared pyrometry for continuous Nd: YAG laser welding of stainless steel. Appl Surf Sci 168(1):182–185
Smurov Igor (2007) Laser process optical sensing and control." IV International WLT-Conference on Lasers in Manufacturing
Doubenskaia M, et al. (2007) On-line optical monitoring of Nd: YAG laser lap welding of Zn-coated steel sheets. IV International WLT-Conference on Lasers in Manufacturing
Zhang Pu, et al. (2008) Real-time monitoring of laser welding based on multiple sensors. Control and Decision Conference, 2008. CCDC 2008. Chinese. IEEE
Farson D, Ali A, SANG YAN (1998) Relationship of optical and acoustic emissions to laser weld penetration. Weld J 77(4):142-s
Kamimuki K et al (2003) Behavior of monitoring signals during detection of welding defects in YAG laser welding. Study of monitoring technology for YAG laser welding (report 2). Weld Int 17(3):203–210
Nakamura S et al (2000) Detection technique for transition between deep penetration mode and shallow penetration mode in CO2 laser welding of metals. J Phys D Appl Phys 33(22):2941
You D, Gao X, Katayama S (2015) A novel stability quantification for disk laser welding by using frequency correlation coefficient between multiple-optics signals. Mechatronics, IEEE/ASME Transactions on 20(1):327–337
Norman Peter, et al. (2008) Correlation between photodiode monitoring and high speed imaging of the dynamics causing laser welding defects. International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics: 20/10/2008–23/10/2008. Laser institute of America
Norman P, Engström H, Kaplan AFH (2008) Theoretical analysis of photodiode monitoring of laser welding defects by imaging combined with modelling. J Phys D Appl Phys 41(19):195502
Mickel PM, Kuhl M, Seidel M (2007) Quality and process control of laser welding using multisensory systems and methods of pattern recognition. Proc. LANE, Germany: 957–966
Clijsters S et al (2014) In situ quality control of the selective laser melting process using a high-speed, real-time melt pool monitoring system. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 75(5–8):1089–1101
Vänskä M et al (2013) Effects of welding parameters onto keyhole geometry for partial penetration laser welding. Phys Procedia 41:199–208
Du Dong, et al. (2007) Automatic inspection of weld defects with X-ray real-time imaging. Robotic welding, intelligence and automation. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. 359–366
Katayama S, Kawahito Y, Mizutani M (2007) Collaboration of physical and metallurgical viewpoints for understanding and process development of laser welding. ICALEO 2007 Congress Proceedings (Proceedings of the 26th International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics), LIA, Orlando
Naito Y, Mizutani M, Katayama S (2006) Effect of oxygen in ambient atmosphere on penetration characteristics in single yttrium–aluminum–garnet laser and hybrid welding. Journal of laser applications 18(1):21–27
Chryssolouris G, Yablon A (1993) Depth prediction in laser machining with the aid of surface temperature measurements. CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology 42(1):205–207
Lankalapalli KN, Tu JF, Gartner M (1996) A model for estimating penetration depth of laser welding processes. J Phys D Appl Phys 29(7):1831
Dowden J, Kapadia P (1995) A mathematical investigation of the penetration depth in keyhole welding with continuous CO2 lasers. J Phys D Appl Phys 28(11):2252
Lampa C et al (1997) An analytical thermodynamic model of laser welding. J Phys D Appl Phys 30(9):1293
Volpp J, Vollertsen F (2016) Keyhole stability during laser welding—part I: modeling and evaluation. Prod Eng 10(4–5):443–457
Kim J-D (1990) Prediction of the penetration depth in laser beam welding. KSME journal 4(1):32–39
Kazemi K, Goldak JA (2009) Numerical simulation of laser full penetration welding. Comput Mater Sci 44(3):841–849
Pastras G et al (2015) A numerical approach to modeling keyhole laser welding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 78(5–8):723–736
GuoMing H, Jian Z, JianQang L (2007) Dynamic simulation of the temperature field of stainless steel laser welding. Mater Des 28(1):240–245
Zhao S et al (2011) Numerical simulation and experimental investigation of laser overlap welding of Ti6Al4V and 42CrMo. J Mater Process Technol 211(3):530–537
Abderrazak K et al (2009) Numerical and experimental study of molten pool formation during continuous laser welding of AZ91 magnesium alloy. Comput Mater Sci 44(3):858–866
Mishra S, Chakraborty S, DebRoy T (2005) Probing liquation cracking and solidification through modeling of momentum, heat, and solute transport during welding of aluminum alloys. J Appl Phys 97(9):094912
Pang S, Chen W, Wang W (2014) A quantitative model of keyhole instability induced porosity in laser welding of titanium alloy. Metall Mater Trans A 45(6):2808–2818
Zhao H, DebRoy T (2003) Macroporosity free aluminum alloy weldments through numerical simulation of keyhole mode laser welding. J Appl Phys 93(12):10089–10096
Acherjee B et al (2011) Application of grey-based Taguchi method for simultaneous optimization of multiple quality characteristics in laser transmission welding process of thermoplastics. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 56(9–12):995–1006
Olabi AG et al (2006) An ANN and Taguchi algorithms integrated approach to the optimization of CO 2 laser welding. Adv Eng Softw 37(10):643–648
Anawa EM, Olabi A-G (2008) Using Taguchi method to optimize welding pool of dissimilar laser-welded components. Opt Laser Technol 40(2):379–388
Pan LK et al (2005) Optimization of Nd: YAG laser welding onto magnesium alloy via Taguchi analysis. Opt Laser Technol 37(1):33–42
Casalino G, Curcio F, Memola Capece Minutolo F (2005) Investigation on Ti6Al4V laser welding using statistical and Taguchi approaches. J Mater Process Technol 167(2):422–428
Tzeng Y-F (2000) Process characterization of pulsed Nd: YAG laser seam welding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 16(1):10–18
Park YW, Rhee S (2008) Process modeling and parameter optimization using neural network and genetic algorithms for aluminum laser welding automation. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 37(9–10):1014–1021
Jeng J-Y, Mau T-F, Leu S-M (2000) Prediction of laser butt joint welding parameters using back propagation and learning vector quantization networks. J Mater Process Technol 99(1):207–218
Naso D, Turchiano B, Pantaleo P (2005) A fuzzy-logic based optical sensor for online weld defect-detection. IEEE transactions on Industrial Informatics 1(4):259–273
Luo M, Shin YC (2015) Estimation of keyhole geometry and prediction of welding defects during laser welding based on a vision system and a radial basis function neural network. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 81(1–4):263–276
Luo H et al (2005) Application of artificial neural network in laser welding defect diagnosis. J Mater Process Technol 170(1):403–411
Huang W, Kovacevic R (2011) A neural network and multiple regression method for the characterization of the depth of weld penetration in laser welding based on acoustic signatures. J Intell Manuf 22(2):131–143
Park H, Rhee S, Kim D (2001) A fuzzy pattern recognition based system for monitoring laser weld quality. Meas Sci Technol 12(8):1318
Park H, Rhee S (1999) Analysis of mechanism of plasma and spatter in CO 2 laser welding of galvanized steel. Opt Laser Technol 31(2):119–126
Park H, Rhee S (1999) Estimation of weld bead size in CO2 laser welding by using multiple regression and neural network. Journal of Laser Applications 11(3):143–150
Passini A et al (2011) Ultrasonic inspection of AA6013 laser welded joints. Mater Res 14(3):417–422
Salzburger HJ, Mohrbacher H (2002) In-line quality control of laser welds of tailored blanks by couplant free ultrasonic inspection. European Federation for Non-Destructive Testing (EFNDT), European Conference on Nondestructive Testing (8)
Miller M et al (2002) Development of automated real-time data acquisition system for robotic weld quality monitoring. Mechatronics 12(9):1259–1269
Kita Akio (2005) Measurement of weld penetration depth using non-contact ultrasound methods
Rogge Matthew Douglas (2009) In-process sensing of weld penetration depth using non-contact laser ultrasound system
Dixon S, Edwards C, Palmer SB (1999) A laser–EMAT system for ultrasonic weld inspection. Ultrasonics 37(4):273–281
Mi B, Ume C (2006) Real-time weld penetration depth monitoring with laser ultrasonic sensing system. J Manuf Sci Eng 128(1):280–286
Mai TA, Spowage AC (2004) Characterization of dissimilar joints in laser welding of steel–kovar, copper–steel and copper–aluminum. Mater Sci Eng A 374(1):224–233
Zhang Xiao-Guang, Xu Jian-Jian, Ge Guang-Ying (2004) Defects recognition on X-ray images for weld inspection using SVM. Machine Learning and Cybernetics, 2004. Proceedings of 2004 International Conference on. Vol. 6. IEEE
Lashkia V (2001) Defect detection in X-ray images using fuzzy reasoning. Image Vis Comput 19(5):261–269
Fu Y et al (1998) Laser alloying of aluminum alloy AA 6061 with Ni and Cr. Part 1. Optimization of processing parameters by X-ray imaging. Surf Coat Technol 99(3):287–294
Boley M et al (2013) X-ray and optical videography for 3D measurement of capillary and melt pool geometry in laser welding. Phys Procedia 41:488–495
Zosch Antje, Seidel Martin (2006) Nondestructive testing of laser welded lap seams by eddy current technique, ECNDT
Ho SK, White RM, Lucas J (1990) A vision system for automated crack detection in welds. Meas Sci Technol 1(3):287
Todorov E, et al. (2013) Inspection of laser welds with array eddy current. AIP Conference Proceedings. Vol. 1511
Gilblas R, et al. (2011) Thermoreflectometry: a new system to determine the true temperature fields on surface with unknown emissivity. SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing. International Society for Optics and Photonics
Hagen N, Kudenov MW (2013) Review of snapshot spectral imaging technologies. Opt Eng 52(9):090901–090901
Acknowledgements
This work is under the framework of EU Project MAShES. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 637081. The dissemination of results herein reflects only the authors’ view, and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Stavridis, J., Papacharalampopoulos, A. & Stavropoulos, P. Quality assessment in laser welding: a critical review. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 94, 1825–1847 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-017-0461-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-017-0461-4