Ultrasonic Detection of Weld Bead Geometry
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Begun in 1973, the Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE) is the premier international NDE meeting designed to provide an interface between research and early engineering through the presentation of current ideas and results focused on facilitating a rapid transfer to engineering development.
This site provides free, public access to papers presented at the annual QNDE conference between 1983 and 1999, and abstracts for papers presented at the conference since 2001.
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Abstract
The three basic components needed to truly automate a welding machine are being investigated in a joint research effort involving the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). These are: sensors to detect the physical properties of the weld, a model of the welding process, and a control system that can take signals from the sensors, for use in the feedback control, to the welder. Research programs at the INEL are developing electro-optic and ultrasonic sensors to detect the physical properties of the weld [1] and a model [2] of the welding process to relate these properties to parameters in the control model being developed at MIT. This paper discusses the ultrasonic sensing techniques which detect weld bead geometry on root passes during the gas metal arc (GMA) welding process and the approach for acquiring and evaluating the ultrasonic signal and assessing its quality for use as an input signal to a closed loop controlled welding system.