Vision-Based Spatter Classification for Contaminant Detection

This paper presents a new method for measuring and classifying spatter in gas metal arc welding (GMAW) by optical monitoring of the weld pool and surrounding area via a high-frame-rate camera. Image processing and tracking algorithms are described that extract and classify individual spatter events from raw camera images. This new sensor is then used to investigate the relationship between workpiece contamination and weld spatter.