Body in white
In the last ten years, laser technology has invaded the field of chassis fabrication. Laser applications for welding, cutting, and soldering allow flexible and highly automated production systems, and are in reliable use today around the world.
A variety of laser applications have already replaced large sections of classic fabrication processes like resistance spot welding. Lasers work contact-free and wear-free, offering enormous flexibility for a wide variety of fabrication tasks – and at the highest processing speeds.
Laser welding
Typical applications are the welding of side walls, doors and door steps, roof joints, floor groups, the front of the vehicle and hood parts.
Designs assuming laser fabrication can reduce flanges, enlarge window openings, increase rigidity and save material. The material savings don't just help reduce costs, they also improve mileage and the CO2 efficiency of the vehicle.
Laser welding is faster than conventional welding technology and especially interesting for large series. The laser beam can be guided to the processing location in a network-like manner using flexible fiber-optic laser cable, and then used with different optics by robots, completely automatically and efficiently. Galvanized sheet metal in an overlap configuration can be welded reliably with laser dimpling. Remote scanner optics combined with laser pulses make small craters near the weld zones forming a gap that allows the vapor to escape resulting in excellent weld quality.
Laser cutting
Depending on the accuracy and productivity required, laser cutting can either be carried out with CO2 lasers, like the highly productive TruLaser Cell, or with fiber-guided solid-state lasers and cost-effective robots. Laser cutting allows even high-strength hot formed steels to be cut precisely and without wear – steels increasingly used today due to stricter crash and weight savings requirements.
Laser soldering
Laser soldering complements laser applications in areas visible to the end customer, like roof joints, sealing channels and hoods. Laser solder seams allow an esthetically pleasing exterior in the vehicle and increase the degree of freedom for vehicle design. They also allow things like plastic covers to be omitted, keeping per-vehicle costs down. The halves of the join are connected using wire in laser soldering, without melting the base material. The surface quality attainable with solders normally requires no refinishing and can be painted directly.
