Current Capabilities GTAW welding is especially widespread in the aircraft and aerospace industry and the automated system described herein can be especially useful by providing increased productivity and the ability to make uniform, high-quality welds. The splitter creates a transmitted view and a reflective view of the welding area. The separate views are converted to digital signals which are processed and used by a computerized robotics welder to guide the welding torch. Also provided is an actively cooled electrode holder, constructed of a single spoke or arm, which minimizes the blocking of the view. The system includes a weld pool contour detector comprised of a laser beam directed onto the weld pool which provides information about the penetrated or unpenetrated condition of the weld pool.
Potential application is applied to the aerospace and aircraft industries.
The system described was developed under a NASA contract and is part of NASA's Technology Transfer Program. It is available for licensing and commercialization. For more information please enter your email address and click the Request Information button.