Abstract
Defects in aluminium welding that may contribute to the loss of properties comprise cracks, porosity, inclusions, incomplete fusion and penetration, imperfect shape or unacceptable contour, and miscellaneous other defects. Due to the complicated nature of the aluminium welding process, defect formation could be attributed to an infinite number of causes, ranging from process obscurities, inconsistent production procedures, and defective materials to human errors. Therefore, since high quality in aluminium welding is affected by multiple quantitative and chiefly qualitative parameters, aluminium welding requires a sophisticated defect analysis system. A knowledge-based engineering system named WeldES was developed for this purpose and is described in the present work. The WeldES system aims to be used as an industrial tool for the identification, assessment, and correction of defects in the aluminium welding process. The system consists of two modules: the diagnostic module and the adviser module.