The automotive industry was quick to appreciate the potential of the industrial laser. The Saginaw Steering Gear Division of General Motors installed a system to heat treat power steering gear housings in 1973, and, at one point, used 17 lasers for this process. This was the first major material processing job to be done by lasers, and has been thoroughly discussed. It did not, however, lead to many other heat treating applications. This implies that the combination of factors that made laser heat treatment appropriate for Saginaw did not appear elsewhere. Most localized surface hardening can be done by induction, which is a lot cheaper and more reliable than a laser. Sheet metal cutting is the largest application for industrial lasers but sees little use in automotive production. This is because laser cutting is cost-effective for short run work, while automotive quantities are generally best done by stamping. Certain low-volume work is being cut, notably plastic trimming and prototype jobs. The development of robot end-effector beam delivery systems will expand the application of laser cutting, Laser robots on a production line can cut different openings on cars with varying trim levels, simplifying body panel inventory. At present, the best match between laser performance and automotive processing is found in welding. Laser welding is very fast compared to other methods of joining, causes little distortion to components, and is easily automated. In addition, the large production quantities typical of automotive parts allow amortization of the rather high equipment cost. According to the Industrial Laser Review, the U.S. automotive industry had over 150 lasers of 1 kw or more output in 1987. Of these, about 120 are in welding systems. I will discuss four assemblies new being laser welded.


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    Title :

    Laser applications in automotive industry


    Additional title:

    Laser-Anwendung in der Automobilindustrie


    Contributors:
    Peng, Y.C. (author)


    Publication date :

    1987


    Size :

    4 Seiten, 8 Bilder


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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