Method for controlling the quality of laser-welding processes, control system an program product therefor

1. A computer-program that can be loaded directly into the memory of a computer and comprises portions of software code for implementing a method for controlling the quality of a laser-welding process of laser welds of semifinished products constituted by elements of sheet metal of different thickness and/or properties, said method comprising the steps of:

detecting a radiation produced in the welding area and issuing signals indicating said radiation,

acquiring and processing said signals indicating said radiation,

making a division into temporal blocks of said signals indicating said radiation,

calculating for each block a block-mean value and comparing each of said block-mean values with a value that is a function of the mean of the acquired signal indicating the radiation,

identifying blocks characteristic for the mean on the basis of said operation of comparison, and

calculating for each block a value of block standard deviation and comparing each of said values of block standard deviation with a value that is a function of a reference standard deviation, identifying blocks characteristic for the standard deviation on the basis of said operation of comparison,

wherein the method comprises a procedure of classification of the quality of a parametric type that envisages supplying a plurality of input values, said procedure comprising the operations of:

supplying input values comprising values of block mean and values of block standard deviation corresponding to said blocks characteristic for the mean for identifying defects and/or porosities; and

supplying input values comprising values of block standard deviation corresponding to said blocks characteristic for the standard deviation for identifying insufficient penetration,

wherein, prior to said procedure of classification, the method comprises an operation of selecting characteristic blocks for the mean corresponding to characteristic blocks for the standard deviation as combined-characteristic blocks, and

wherein the method envisages arranging said block-mean values and values of block standard deviation as respective dimensions in a map with at least three dimensions that comprises, as a third dimension, a block temporal length,

when the computer-program is run on the computer.

2. A system for controlling the quality of a laser-welding process, comprising:

sensor means for detecting one or more process parameters, wherein said sensor means issues signals and

an electronic control and processing unit for processing the signals issued by said sensor means,

wherein said electronic control and processing unit for processing the signals issued by said sensor means is capable of implementing a method for controlling the quality of a laser-welding process of laser welds of semifinished products constituted by elements of sheet metal of different thickness and/or properties, said method comprising the steps of:

detecting a radiation produced in the welding area and issuing signals indicating said radiation,

acquiring and processing said signals indicating said radiation,

making a division into temporal blocks of said signals indicating said radiation,

calculating for each block a block-mean value and comparing each of said block-mean values with a value that is a function of the mean of the acquired signal indicating the radiation,

identifying blocks characteristic for the mean on the basis of said operation of comparison, and

calculating for each block a value of block standard deviation and comparing each of said values of block standard deviation with a value that is a function of a reference standard deviation, identifying blocks characteristic for the standard deviation on the basis of said operation of comparison,

wherein the method comprises a procedure of classification of the quality of a parametric type that envisages supplying a plurality of input values, said procedure comprising the operations of:

supplying input values comprising values of block mean and values of block standard deviation corresponding to said blocks characteristic for the mean for identifying defects and/or porosities; and

supplying input values comprising values of block standard deviation corresponding to said blocks characteristic for the standard deviation for identifying insufficient penetration,

wherein, prior to said procedure of classification, the method comprises an operation of selecting characteristic blocks for the mean corresponding to characteristic blocks for the standard deviation as combined-characteristic blocks, and

wherein the method envisages arranging said block-mean values and values of block standard deviation as respective dimensions in a map with at least three dimensions that comprises, as a third dimension, a block temporal length.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein one or more of said sensor means comprise filters configured for working in the spectrum between 300 and 600 nm.

4. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the method comprises the operation of defining, in said map with at least three dimensions, boundaries of separation between classes of quality of the weld for said block-mean values and intensity of standard deviation.

5. The system according to claim 4 , wherein the method comprises the operation of defining, in said three-dimensional map, thresholds of temporal length of the characteristics and of evaluating said block-mean values with respect to said thresholds for estimating defects and/or porosities of the weld.

6. The system according to claim 2 , wherein, for estimating the lack of penetration, the method comprises evaluating said values of block standard deviation as a function of the temporal length.

7. The system according to claim 6 , wherein, for estimating the lack of penetration, a rectangle is identified in said map that corresponds to points above certain given values of block standard deviation and temporal length.

8. The system according to claim 2 , wherein said operation of calculating, for each block, a block-mean value and comparing each of said block-mean values with a value that is a function of the mean of the acquired signal indicating the radiation, identifying blocks characteristic for the mean on the basis of said operation of comparison comprises seeking the block characteristic for the mean in which the mean of the block is smaller than or equal to k times the mean valueof the signal minus the standard deviation of the signal, where k is a positive adjustment constant.

9. The system according to claim 8 , wherein said operation of calculating for each block a value of block standard deviation and comparing each of said values of block standard deviation with a value that is a function of a reference standard deviation, identifying blocks characteristic for the standard deviation on the basis of said operation of comparison, comprises the operation of seeking the block in which the standard deviation of the block is smaller than or equal to tl times the standard deviation of the entire reference signal, where tl indicates a tolerance that takes into account the good quality of the reference signal.

10. The system according to claim 8 , wherein, during the operation of connection, there is also calculated said intensity of the mean corresponding to the area of the signal in the area included between the mean of the block and the value that is a function of the mean of the acquired signal indicating the radiation.

11. The system according to claim 8 , wherein the method comprises the operation of connecting contiguous blocks that satisfy the condition of search to obtain the characteristics of mean and standard deviation.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein two blocks are connected together also in the cases where the distance between the two blocks is less than five blocks.