OCT Capillary Depth Measurement in Copper Micro Welding Using Green Lasers

The transition of the powertrain from combustion to electric systems increases the demand for reliable copper connections. For such applications, laser welding has become a key technology. Due to the complexity of laser welding, especially at micro welding with small weld seam dimensions and short p...

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Main Authors: Tobias Beck, Christoph Bantel, Meiko Boley, Jean Pierre Bergmann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/6/2655
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author Tobias Beck
Christoph Bantel
Meiko Boley
Jean Pierre Bergmann
author_facet Tobias Beck
Christoph Bantel
Meiko Boley
Jean Pierre Bergmann
author_sort Tobias Beck
collection DOAJ
description The transition of the powertrain from combustion to electric systems increases the demand for reliable copper connections. For such applications, laser welding has become a key technology. Due to the complexity of laser welding, especially at micro welding with small weld seam dimensions and short process times, reliable in-line process monitoring has proven to be difficult. By using a green laser with a wavelength of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>λ</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>515</mn><mrow></mrow></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> nm, the welding process of copper benefits from an increased absorption, resulting in a shallow and stable deep penetration welding process. This opens up new possibilities for the process monitoring. In this contribution, the monitoring of the capillary depth in micro copper welding, with welding depth of up to 1 mm, was performed coaxially using an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. By comparing the measured capillary depth and the actual welding depth, a good correlation between two measured values could be shown independently of the investigated process parameters and stability. Measuring the capillary depth allows a direct determination of the present aspect ratio in the welding process. For deep penetration welding, aspect ratios as low as 0.35 could be shown. By using an additional scanning system to superimpose the welding motion with a spacial oscillating of the OCT beam perpendicular to the welding motion, multiple information about the process could be determined. Using this method, several process information can be measured simultaneously and is shown for the weld seam width exemplarily.
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spelling doaj.art-1dc4ad987f7e4d2180ee14f3b331e65d2023-11-21T10:44:30ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-03-01116265510.3390/app11062655OCT Capillary Depth Measurement in Copper Micro Welding Using Green LasersTobias Beck0Christoph Bantel1Meiko Boley2Jean Pierre Bergmann3Corporate Research, Robert Bosch GmbH, Robert-Bosch-Campus 1, 71272 Renningen, GermanyCorporate Research, Robert Bosch GmbH, Robert-Bosch-Campus 1, 71272 Renningen, GermanyCorporate Research, Robert Bosch GmbH, Robert-Bosch-Campus 1, 71272 Renningen, GermanyProduction Technology Group, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Gustav-Kirchhoff-Platz 2, 98693 Ilmenau, GermanyThe transition of the powertrain from combustion to electric systems increases the demand for reliable copper connections. For such applications, laser welding has become a key technology. Due to the complexity of laser welding, especially at micro welding with small weld seam dimensions and short process times, reliable in-line process monitoring has proven to be difficult. By using a green laser with a wavelength of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>λ</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>515</mn><mrow></mrow></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> nm, the welding process of copper benefits from an increased absorption, resulting in a shallow and stable deep penetration welding process. This opens up new possibilities for the process monitoring. In this contribution, the monitoring of the capillary depth in micro copper welding, with welding depth of up to 1 mm, was performed coaxially using an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. By comparing the measured capillary depth and the actual welding depth, a good correlation between two measured values could be shown independently of the investigated process parameters and stability. Measuring the capillary depth allows a direct determination of the present aspect ratio in the welding process. For deep penetration welding, aspect ratios as low as 0.35 could be shown. By using an additional scanning system to superimpose the welding motion with a spacial oscillating of the OCT beam perpendicular to the welding motion, multiple information about the process could be determined. Using this method, several process information can be measured simultaneously and is shown for the weld seam width exemplarily.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/6/2655laser weldinggreen lasercopper weldingmicro weldingoptical coherence tomographylaser weld monitoring
spellingShingle Tobias Beck
Christoph Bantel
Meiko Boley
Jean Pierre Bergmann
OCT Capillary Depth Measurement in Copper Micro Welding Using Green Lasers
Applied Sciences
laser welding
green laser
copper welding
micro welding
optical coherence tomography
laser weld monitoring
title OCT Capillary Depth Measurement in Copper Micro Welding Using Green Lasers
title_full OCT Capillary Depth Measurement in Copper Micro Welding Using Green Lasers
title_fullStr OCT Capillary Depth Measurement in Copper Micro Welding Using Green Lasers
title_full_unstemmed OCT Capillary Depth Measurement in Copper Micro Welding Using Green Lasers
title_short OCT Capillary Depth Measurement in Copper Micro Welding Using Green Lasers
title_sort oct capillary depth measurement in copper micro welding using green lasers
topic laser welding
green laser
copper welding
micro welding
optical coherence tomography
laser weld monitoring
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/6/2655
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AT christophbantel octcapillarydepthmeasurementincoppermicroweldingusinggreenlasers
AT meikoboley octcapillarydepthmeasurementincoppermicroweldingusinggreenlasers
AT jeanpierrebergmann octcapillarydepthmeasurementincoppermicroweldingusinggreenlasers