On-line Optodynamic Monitoring of Laser Materials Processing

A new term “optodynamics” has been introduced to describe a wide range of optically induced dynamic phenomena (Možina & Hrovatin, 1996). A laser pulse is considered not only as a tool in laser material processing but also as a generator of information about the material transformation. The information is retained and conveyed by different kinds of optically induced mechanical waves generated during laser material interaction. Several generation/detection schemes have been developed to extract this information especially in the field of non-destructive material evaluation (laser ultrasonics). In a wider aspect these techniques can be used for optodynamic monitoring and characterization of laser cutting, drilling, welding and other laser material processing methods.