Light section measurement to quantify the accuracy loss induced by laser light deflection in an inhomogeneous refractive index field

In the manufacturing process of Tailored Forming components, the inline inspection of the joining zone directly after each single process step can yield advantages - such as early error detection and real-time process control. Since measuring times need to be synchronized with the production chain, there is no time to cool down the components in between two hot forming processes. On the one hand, the chosen measurement technique needs to be non-tactile due to the heat of the measurement object. On the other hand, the object's areal surface texture needs to be captured rapidly to realize a fast inline inspection. These requirements are only matched by optical 3d measurement systems. Additional challenges arise due to the high temperature of the Tailored Forming components: The ambient air is heated up and the air's temperature increase results in an inhomogeneous refractive index field surrounding the hot workpiece, effecting the light's path emitted by the illumination unit of the optical sensor. We present a simple measurement setup based on the laser light section method to visualize the measurement accuracy loss induced by the convectional heat flow from a hot cylindrical measurement object. To attain a direct validation of the measurement results, the measurements are performed with and with reduced influence of the inhomogeneous refractive index field induced by the hot object. © 2017 SPIE