Two-colour thermography for measurement of temperature distribution in laser beam welding

Solidification cracking is a frequently observed phenomenon in laser beam welding of austenitic stainless steels and other metallic alloys. Characterisation of cracking susceptibility requires knowledge of the precise and spatially resolved temperature distribution near the solidification front in the welding process. Thermography is a standard tool that provides a qualitative estimate of the 2D temperature field. The general disadvantage of this method is its dependence on the emission characteristics of the measured object. For welding applications, these can vary significantly in the temperature range above and below the melting temperature. For this purpose, we have developed a thermography-based measurement technique using a SWIR camera system in combination with two narrow bandpass filters that use the principle of two-wavelength pyrometry to estimate absolute temperature values. This technique was used to determine the temperature distributions and gradients near the solidification front of laser-welded austenitic steel. The results were validated by other measurements.