Multisensor Inspection of Laser-Brazed Joints in the Automotive Industry

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 21; no. 21; p. 7335
• Main Authors: Machado, Miguel A, Rosado, Luís S, Mendes, Nuno M, Miranda, Rosa M, Santos, Telmo G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04.11.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Automation; Automobile industry; automotive industry; Braze welding; Brazed joints; Defects; Design; Eddy current testing; Eddy currents; Electric currents; Filler materials; Flaw detection; Inspection; Laser beam brazing; Laser beam welding; laser brazing; Lasers; Magnetic fields; Methods; non-destructive testing; Nondestructive testing; numerical simulation; potential drop method; Process variables; Simulation; four-point probe; automotive industry; laser brazing; customized probes; eddy currents; potential drop method; non-destructive testing; numerical simulation
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s21217335

Automobile laser brazing remains a complex process whose results are affected by several process variables that may result in nonacceptable welds. A multisensory customized inspection system is proposed, with two distinct non-destructive techniques: the potential drop method and eddy current testing. New probes were designed, simulated, produced, and experimentally validated in automobile's laser-brazed weld beads with artificially introduced defects. The numerical simulations allowed the development of a new four-point probe configuration in a non-conventional orthogonal shape demonstrating a superior performance in both simulation and experimental validation. The dedicated inspection system allowed the detection of porosities, cracks, and lack of bonding defects, demonstrating the redundancy and complementarity these two techniques provide.