Welding process development is a challenging task. Because the engineer must often operate the weld head remotely, by the time he or she inspects the completed weld, it has gone cold. Without being able to directly observe the weld, it’s very hard to identify experimental mistakes or conceptualize the effect of parameters on weld puddle behavior. For this reason, welding engineers often turn to a welding camera, which allows them to capture video of the making of the weld and review it step by step.

This ability to record welding at hundreds or thousands of frames per second and play back the video frame by frame offers progressive manufacturers a huge advantage in developing welding processes and welding programs. By observing the welding sequence at high speed, the waveform can be optimized and properly coordinated with robot movement. A high speed camera can also greatly help in programming torch angle and motion for strong, beautiful welds when robots speedily weld around curved paths. Welding processes with multiple heat source processes (e.g. hybrid laser or tandem GMAW) pose additional challenges. A welding camera can be used to refine the role that each heat source has on the composite weld.

MeltTools designs and builds a wide range of industry-leading weld monitoring cameras that operate at 25-30 frames per second. However, for analytical purposes we offer the high speed MeltView SYNC camera that is small enough to fit on a robot and can record up to 1200 frames per second.

Droplet detachment, spatter generation and puddle dynamics are all observable with the MeltView SYNC. For example, the initiation of a stitch weld often utilizes a complex ramp up sequence to ensure proper fusion without spatter.

* Synchronize video and quantitative data to precisely identify the effects of parameters on weld behavior

* Configure the camera system for a wide range of welding processes and machine types

* Mount the camera to the robot and continuously record for greatest ease of set-up

* Trigger recording for efficient experiments