Understanding the Laser Process: New Approaches for Process Monitoring in Laser Materials Processing

The Laser as a production tool has gained significant shares in industrial applications today. Laser materials processing is therefore a well established technique, especially in applications like welding, cutting, or surface treatment – benefitting from laser typical features like high processing speed, low heat input into the material, and precise manufacturing technique of high quality. Hence, it is essential to know the quality state of manufactured products. For many application areas this is also formalized through ISO 9000 and other by law enforced regulations. Thus applied quality control is an essential tool in modern manufacturing and necessary in order to keep production results in deterministic boundaries.