Laser is a new technology emerged in the 1960s. Afterwards, laser processing has been gradually applied to automotive, aerospace, machinery, electronics, medical and many other industries. The rapid development of the automotive industry has in turn boosted the advancement of laser processing technology.
Laser tailor welded blank technology changes the conventional process, in which several sheets of different thicknesses and strengths are stamped into separate parts and then welded together. Instead, sheets with different strengths and thicknesses are blanked and welded into a unified blank first, followed by integral stamping forming.
Advantages of Laser Tailor Welded Automotive Blanks
1. Flexible combination of different materials. Laser tailor welded blanks can combine steel sheets of different grades, thicknesses and surface conditions. This meets designers’ diverse material requirements for different vehicle zones. For example, coated steel can be used for corrosion-prone areas; lower-grade or thinner steel can be adopted for non-load-bearing regions; high-strength steel can be applied for heavily loaded positions. This reduces steel consumption, lightens the body weight, cuts vehicle energy consumption and lowers environmental pollution.
2. Integrated forming of combined components. With laser tailor welded blanks, assemblies originally made by joining multiple separate parts can be formed in one piece. It improves body assembly accuracy, simplifies working procedures, reduces tooling investment and lowers manufacturing costs.
3. Improved structural reliability and safety. Continuous laser welds replace discrete spot welds, enhancing structural stiffness. Meanwhile, high-strength and thicker sheets are placed at reinforced zones, so the reliability and safety of the whole vehicle body structure are improved.
4. Satisfy the demand for wide-width sheets in automobiles. Limited by mill width, only a few mills are capable of producing extra-wide sheets. It is much easier to manufacture wide panels via laser tailor welding.
Typical Applications of Laser Tailor Welded Blanks
These merits translate into high quality, high efficiency and low cost in mass production. In the ULSAB project, 16 tailor-welded stamped parts were used on one passenger car. Thanks to tailor welded blanks, the number of body components was reduced by approximately 20%, and weight was cut by 25%.
Laser tailor welded blanks are widely used for automotive inner door panels, longitudinal beams, floor panels, pillars and other internal structural parts.
