Sensors monitor welding and cutting with lasers
Simplifying fibre laser process monitoring, Coherent HighLight has added the HighLight SQD for fibre lasers. It is intended to provide cutting and welding systems integrators with a turnkey, simple to use and cost-effective means to implement process monitoring, says the company.
The HighLight SQD comprises process sensors integrated directly into Coherent’s fibre laser connectors which detect back-reflected laser power and visible spectrum process emissions. These signals, which are provided in either an analogue or digital CAN bus, operating at 2kHz sampling rate, can be used to detect key process events, such as piercing end, cut interruption, and self-burning during piercing. For welding, the HighLight SQD can indicate incomplete penetration (due to insufficient power at workpiece, focal shift or material changes), blow holes, contamination, gap detection for overlap joints, and other process instabilities.
The HighLight SQD is contained within the fibre connector, making it more compact and easier to integrate than existing sensing systems which use dichroic mirrors or other bulk optical elements. These traditional methods can be subject to signal variability, and can also increase the weight and size of the process head. Additionally, says Coherent, the HighLight SQD is less costly than available sensors based on bulk components. For the end user, a software interface is integrated within the laser GUI.
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