Gap and Force Adjustment during Laser Beam Welding by Means of a Closed-Loop Control Utilizing Fixture-Integrated Sensors and Actuators

Gap and Force Adjustment during Laser Beam Welding by Means of a Closed-Loop Control Utilizing Fixture-Integrated Sensors and Actuators

The development of adaptive and intelligent clamping devices allows for the reduction of rejects and defects based on weld discontinuities in laser-beam welding. The utilization of fixture-integrated sensors and actuators is a new approach, realizing adaptive clamping devices that enable in-process...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied sciences Vol. 13; no. 4; p. 2744
Main Authors: Schricker, Klaus, Schmidt, Leander, Friedmann, Hannes, Bergmann, Jean Pierre
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-02-2023
Subjects:
actuator integration
Actuators
Automation
Butt joints
Closed loops
closed-loop control
Data acquisition
distortion
Feedback control
gap
Geometry
Laser beam welding
Lasers
Measuring instruments
Process controls
Residual stress
sensor integration
Sensors
Sheets
Welding
Workpieces
Germany
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Summary:The development of adaptive and intelligent clamping devices allows for the reduction of rejects and defects based on weld discontinuities in laser-beam welding. The utilization of fixture-integrated sensors and actuators is a new approach, realizing adaptive clamping devices that enable in-process data acquisition and a time-dependent adjustment of process conditions and workpiece position by means of a closed-loop control. The present work focused on sensor and actuator integration for an adaptive clamping device utilized for laser-beam welding in a butt-joint configuration, in which the position and acting forces of the sheets to be welded can be adjusted during the process (studied welding speeds: 1 m/min, 5 m/min). Therefore, a novel clamping system was designed allowing for the integration of inductive probes and force cells for obtaining time-dependent data of the joint gap and resulting forces during welding due to the displacement of the sheets. A novel automation engineering concept allowed the communication between different sensors, actuators and the laser-beam welding setup based on an EtherCAT bus. The subsequent development of a position control and a force control and their combination was operated with a real time PC as master in the bus system and proved the feasibility of the approach based on proportional controllers. Finally, the scalability regarding higher welding speeds was demonstrated.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app13042744