Abstract
The real-time holographic interferometer with digital high-speed camera is applied to the experimental study of laser induced plasma/plume in pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding. A pulsed Nd:YAG laser with 1.2 kW average power is applied to generate laser induced plume. The recording speed of the high-speed camera is 3,000 f/s. The high speed photographs of weld plume without another visualization method, are compared with the visualization photographs with holographic interferometer. The radiation intensity from the laser induced plume is recorded by the high speed photographs, which fluctuated during laser radiation and disappeared after laser end. The density distribution of the plume is recorded by the holographic visualization method. The experimental results show the process of generation of the laser induced plasma/plume, and give the feasibility of quantitative measurement of laser induced plume in laser welding.
