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In additive manufacturing, temperature is one of the factors on which the quality of the final product depends. Thermal imaging cameras record temperature developments and deviations in real time and enable rapid intervention in the ongoing process.
Monitored Process Control and Quality Assurance
Additive manufacturing – also known as 3D printing – refers to manufacturing processes in which material is applied layer by layer to create three-dimensional objects. Thereby chemical and physical hardening and melting processes take place, in which temperature plays a decisive role. Infrared cameras support the systematic monitoring of the entire manufacturing and machining process.
Numerous of these manufacturing processes are based on laser technologies such as laser melting, sintering or build-up welding. Other processes, such as binder jetting, are completed by a sintering pass to fully cure the material. Temperature also plays a decisive role in thermal spraying for achieving the best possible surface hardness and optimum non-stick properties. In order to localise and detail thermal conspicuities in these processes, InfraTec infrared cameras support the determination and subsequent adherence to thermal process parameters by in-line monitoring. Infrared cameras can be integrated directly into the process control system to enable a non-contact and non-invasive temperature measurement.
Here, the detection of the temperature distribution of the powder bed surface and the measurement of melting temperatures are relevant in most cases. Both can be realised for temperature ranges higher than 2,000 °C and while the laser is working (insitu measurement).
Close monitoring of machines, processing plants, materials and temperatures during the production and processing of additive parts is of fundamental importance both in industry and in research. The mapping of heat flows in components is necessary for a complete understanding of the process and allows precise control of the temperature development in the parts and materials to be processed as well as exact thermal control of the process. An early detection of errors in production is therefore possible, rejects are actively avoided, and returns are minimised.
Furthermore, process and cycle times can be significantly optimised and correlations between process parameters and (melting) temperatures can be derived.
Requirements for Infrared Cameras in Laser Based Additive Manufacturing
Due to the characteristics of lasers in additive manufacturing, the infrared cameras used must meet specific requirements. This applies, for example, with regard to the temporal resolution.
Working with a laser is typically characterised by short laser action times, where heat input takes place within fractions of a second. This requires measurements with high image frequencies in full and partial images. Particularly in micro material processing with pulsed laser light, the demands on thermography systems are very high. Suitable for this application is, for example, the ImageIR® 8300 hs, as it can image high-speed processes with an image format of (640 × 512) IR pixels and the high image frequency of 1,004 Hz.
The thermal and geometric resolution of infrared cameras is equally important. Depending on the process and material, lasers can be used to create very large or very small temperature differences, which must be monitored continuously and very precisely. Here InfraTec offers different camera functions, such as HighSense mode, HDR function, HighSpeed mode and geometric resolutions in the HD range.
Detector Format
Efficient measurement of smallest structures on large-scale objects
Thermal Resolution
Precise detection of smallest temperature differences
Frame Rate
Analysis of high-speed dynamic temperature changes and processes
10 GigE
Transmission and storage of large amounts of measurement data on a computer in very short time
Protection Degree
Constant excellent optical and metrological performance even in harsh industrial environments
HDR – Simultaneous Mapping of Wide Temperature Ranges
The High Dynamic Range (HDR) function of the Infrared ImageIR® camera series enables measurement scenarios with extremely different temperatures to be recorded continuously. When recording in HDR mode, multiple thermograms with different integration times and different filters are recorded quickly in succession and compiled into an overall image with a high dynamic range. The measuring range can span up to 1,500 K. Users obtain high-contrast images in a wide temperature range characterized by high measurement accuracy.
Thanks to HighSense, ImageIR® users have the option of setting up individual measuring ranges based on the factory calibration that best suit the respective task. The software also offers the possibility of storing a large number of such areas clearly arranged. Individually named and permanently stored, the operator can quickly access them. The same applies to changing, renaming and deleting profiles. HighSense is available for different camera models of the ImageIR® series. This function can optionally be added to systems already delivered.
The 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface of the high-end camera series ImageIR® opens this extremely fast transmission standard with a NIC specially developed by InfraTec. This works with optical or electrical transceiver modules that are easy to change and are called SFP+.
Different 10 GigE fiber SFP+ transceivers allow transmission ranges of up to ten kilometers with the same low sensitivity to electromagnetic interference. A corresponding standard SFP ensures backward compatibility with the conventional GigE interface. This combination allows the ease of use of the cameras with the 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface in existing systems - though at a reduced transmission rate.
Separate Filter & Aperture Wheel – Spectral Thermography
The combination of a separate filter and aperture wheel, allowing a total of 30 freely selectable combinations, is prerequisite for an universal application in measurement tasks with high object temperatures and in the field of spectral thermography. The neutral density filters used for signal attenuation or the combination of spectral filters and apertures reliably prevent interference effects.
Window Mode (Subwindowing) – Capture of Rapid Sequences
The thermal imaging camera can be operated in full, half, quarter and sub mode. With the camera control software, it is possible to use the extended subwindowing function. Using click-and-drag, freely definable sections can be set up quickly and conveniently. A defined sub-frame of the detector is picked out to achieve these extremely high refresh rates.
Geometrical Resolution – Efficient Analysis of Complex Assemblies
InfraTec's infrared cameras with cooled and uncooled detectors have native resolutions up to (1,920 × 1,536) IR pixels. Spatially high-resolution thermograms ensure that components and assemblies are imaged down to the smallest detail and thus defects can be reliably detected and precisely localised.
Integrated Trigger / Process Interface and Interfaces - Digitally Controlling of a Infrared Camera and External Devices
The internal trigger interface guarantees highly precise, repeatable triggering. Each of the two configurable digital inputs and outputs are used to control the camera or to generate digital control signals for external devices. In this way, for example, the operation of a printed circuit board and the interval of a measurement can be synchronised.
The selection of different camera interfaces allows the processing of analog data, such as the voltage directly through the camera and thus the insertion of this information into the thermal image data. Relevant variables can be included in the evaluations with the software, which makes it easier to draw conclusions about the causes of temperature changes.
Reliable Localisation and Detailed Mapping of Thermal Anomalies
By in-line monitoring of thermal process parameters, infrared cameras from InfraTec support the optimisation of additive manufacturing processes.
Non-contact and non-reactive temperature measurement
Mapping of heat flows in components to gain a complete understanding of the process
Precise control of heating and cooling of the materials to be processed
Monitoring of defined energy inputs and reduction of thermal load
Precise thermal and even spatial control of the process due to high-speed data acquisition, high geometric resolution and delay-free triggering
Complete recording, documentation and evaluation of temperature distributions to determine the optimum energy input by the laser
Contactless measurement of temperature distributions and profiles with industrial thermographic cameras permits efficient monitoring and control of temperature-dependent processes and procedures within a system-integrated quality assurance programme in industry.
Check the microstructures of sheet metal parts during the stamping process and establish a uniform high strength and quality of all produced stampings safely and with a contact-free method.
Detect inhomogeneous temperature distribution and local power loss during the production using the Lock-in thermography.
Would You Like to Know More?
It is not unusual for tasks to be associated with special requirements. Discuss your specific application needs with our specialists, receive further technical information or learn more about our additional services.
Micro-thermography allows for the thermal analysis of extremely small structures in the micrometer range, providing a detailed representation of the temperature distribution on complex electronic assemblies and components.
