Monitoring of laser welding using source localization and tracking processing by microphone array

• Published in: International journal of advanced manufacturing technology Vol. 86; no. 1-4; pp. 21 - 28
• Main Authors: Luo, Zhen, Liu, Weidong, Wang, Zhengming, Ao, Sansan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer London 01.09.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acoustics; Arrays; Automobile industry; CAE) and Design; Computer-Aided Engineering (CAD; Engineering; Industrial and Production Engineering; Laser beam welding; Lasers; Localization; Mechanical Engineering; Media Management; Microphones; Original Article; Signal monitoring; Signal processing; Sound sources; Time lag; Tracking; Weld defects; Process monitoring; Microphone array; Acoustic signal; Laser welding; Localization and tracking
• ISSN: 0268-3768; 1433-3015
• DOI: 10.1007/s00170-015-8095-x

Microphone is subject to the interference of working acoustic sources from surroundings. It is often difficult to acquire useful acoustic signal from the hostile environment. This problem has become the obstacle to use the acoustic signal for monitoring laser welding process. To monitor the weld quality effectively, a novel monitoring strategy on source localization and tracking of laser source is investigated in this work. A plane microphone array system composed of eight microphones has been applied to capture the acoustic signal. A time delay recognition has been employed to source localization and tracking. These results reveal that this system with the processing method is capable of distinguishing welding defects in laser welding process. By visualizing the position of laser source, it can directly judge and distinguish the weld quality.