LASER WELDING APPLICATION IN CAR BODY MANUFACTURING

Laser welding application for car body manufacturing has many advantages in the stiffness and the lightness of vehicle, the productivity of assembly line, and the degree of freedom in design. This presentation will express the innovation of car body manufacturing including parameter optimization, process modeling, and system integration. In this application the investment for systems was cut down dramatically by real time switching over the laser path between two welding stations. Points of technical discussion are as follows: optimization of parameters such as laser power, robot speed and trajectory, compact and useful design of jig & fixture to assure welding quality for 3 sheet-layer zinc-coated steel, system integration between 4kW Nd:YAG laser device and the other systems, on-line real time welding quality monitoring system, perfect safety standards for high power laser, minimization of consumption costs such as arc lamp, protective glass for optic, etc. Laser welding has found a place on Hyundai's production plant in conjunction with the startup of mass production of new sports car, and this production system is the result of a collaboration of its engineers. Outer side sheets are joined to inner side sheets by 122 stitch welds totally. And the length is about 2.4meter.