N. Coniglio

Characterizing weld pool surfaces from polarization state of thermal emissions

In this Letter, a vision-based remote sensing methodology is proposed to measure the topography of weld pool surfaces from one single view. Thermal radiations emitted by the hot liquid metal at a wavelength within the arc plasma blind spectral window are acquired by a wavefront division polarimetric system. The refractive index of the liquid metal and the topography of the weld pool surface are inferred from the polarimetric state of the thermal radiations.

Weld pool surface temperature measurement from polarization state of thermal emission

This paper presents a passive polarimetry method using a division of aperture optical device in order to measure the temperature distribution at the weld pool surface. Thermal emission from a hot liquid metal was investigated at a near-infrared wavelength corresponding to a blind spectral window of a helium plasma generated during gas tungsten arc welding process. The refractive index of liquid metal and the surface radiance are deduced from the polarisation state of thermal emissions. Based upon the knowledge of both characteristics, the temperature distribution can be calculated.

Plasma effect on weld pool surface reconstruction by shape-from-polarization analysis

The polarimetric state of the thermal radiations emitted by the weld metal contains geometric information about the emitting surface. Even though the analysed thermal radiation has a wavelength corresponding to a blind spectral window of the arc plasma, the physical presence of the arc plasma itself interferes with the rays radiated by the weld pool surface before attaining the polarimeter, thus modifying the geometric information transported by the ray. In the present work, the effect of the arc plasma-surrounding zone on the polarimetric state and propagation direction of the radiated ray is analyzed. The interaction with the arc plasma zone induces a drop in ray intensity and a refraction of ray optical path.

Modified WIC test: an efficient and effective tool for evaluating pipeline girth weldability

ABSTRACT The Welding Institute of Canada (WIC) test is a simple and standardised weldability test for hydrogen assisted cold cracking that was developed in the 80s. It has been extensively utilised by the industry to qualify safe welding envelopes but the difficult access to the weldment by instrumentation hinders its use for scientific research. Moreover the lack of repeatability arising from the traditional manual deposit and the short weld length causes industrial trials to have a low success rate. The present work proposes a modified geometry, referred to as the modified WIC (MWIC) test that shows: (1) an improved success rate of weld deposition, (2) an enhancement to instrument the weldment and (3) welding conditions in better accordance with the field pipeline girth welding conditions. The design is validated under a mechanised, shielded metal arc welding process with the cellulosic electrodes used for in-field pipeline construction.

Real time polarization imaging of weld pool surface

The search for an efficient on-line monitoring system focused on the real-time analysis of arc welding quality is an active area of research. The topography and the superficial temperature field of the weld pool can provide important information which can be used to regulate the welding parameters for depositing consistent welds. One difficulty relies on accessing this information despite the bright dazzling welding arc. In the present work, Stokes polarimetry and associated shape-from-polarization methods are applied for the analysis of the weld pool through its 810 nm-wavelength infrared emissions. The obtained information can provide a better understanding of the process, such as the usage of the topography to seek Marangoni flows direction, or to have a denser 3D map to improve numerical simulation models.