Two-Color-Thermography for Temperature Determination in Laser Beam Welding of Low-Melting Materials

Spatial and temporal knowledge of temperature evolution is crucial in laser beam welding of low-melting materials such as aluminum alloys. Current temperature measurements are restricted to (i) one-dimensional temperature information (e.g., ratio-pyrometers), (ii) a priori knowledge of emissivity (e...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Karen Schwarzkopf, Richard Rothfelder, Michael Rasch, Michael Schmidt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/10/4908
Description
Summary:Spatial and temporal knowledge of temperature evolution is crucial in laser beam welding of low-melting materials such as aluminum alloys. Current temperature measurements are restricted to (i) one-dimensional temperature information (e.g., ratio-pyrometers), (ii) a priori knowledge of emissivity (e.g., thermography), and (iii) high-temperature regions (e.g., two-color-thermography). This study presents a ratio-based two-color-thermography system that enables acquiring spatially and temporally resolved temperature information for low-melting temperature ranges (<1200 K). The study demonstrates that temperature can be accurately determined despite variations in signal intensity and emissivity for objects emitting constant thermal radiation. The two-color-thermography system is further transferred into a commercial laser beam welding set-up. Experiments with varying process parameters are conducted, and the ability of the thermal imaging method to measure dynamic temperature behavior is assessed. Image artifacts presumably caused by internal reflections inside the optical beam path limit the direct application of the developed two-color-thermography system during dynamic temperature evolution.
ISSN:1424-8220