Development of a Methodology for Monitoring the Deposition Process in Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)

Abstract

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) processes need to guarantee the quality of the parts produced from this stability in the manufacture of a single bead. In addition to the visual inspection and subsequent characterization with the cutting of the samples, which consists of destructive analysis, it is possible to monitor the entire process and the quality of the part in a non-destructive way. Therefore, this work aims to develop a methodology for the analysis of non-destructive and online weld beads using high-speed cameras, thermal cameras, profilometer and algorithms in MatLab for data processing. The high-speed cameras allow the capture of images of the electric arc and the metallic transfer mode. The thermal cameras, on the other hand, allow the visualization of the melt pool and the temperatures reached during the deposition. Finally, the laser profilometer allows you to make a point cloud of the part and measure its geometry (height, width, height-to-width ratio, wetting angle) online and more accurately than the caliper. With this, it is possible to use the data, both for geometric quality, preliminary parameterization of additive manufacturing, and later for feeding simulations of welding. Promising the monitoring process during manufacturing.