Automotive manufacturing has ever been a challenging business that has pushed productivity, efficiency and quality to higher levels.

The demand for quality has driven the auto industry to adopting new technologies, and today the technologies that auto makers and their Tier One suppliers increasingly are turning to are focused on lasers. Automotive manufacturers are implementing more and more laser equipment for everything from drilling holes to cutting metal sheets to welding.

The auto industry has used resistance spot welding as its traditional, conventional process, and that process has spread widely through the industry.

However, that’s starting to change, David Havrilla, product manager for high-power lasers (1Kw and above) for Trumpf Inc., said.

Havrilla said he sees four primary advantages that lasers provide that make it an attractive and viable alternative for automotive manufacturers who are demanding improved quality in the welds they are making.

First, because they are a unique light source that concentrates heat on a very small focal point, lasers develop minimum heat input for the welded product. This produces less distortion in the workpiece, Havrilla said.

As an example, he cited transmission components, especially the subcomponents of transmissions that rotate within housings, and have to maintain close tolerances while performing under a wide range of temperatures and conditions. Using a laser to weld those components before they are installed into a transmission is very beneficial, Havrilla said.

Other areas in automotive manufacturing that benefit from laser welding include air bag inflator subassemblies, in which the inflator itself is a metal piece, and seat backs in which multiple pieces compose the structure.

“Seat backs used to use MIG welding, but it is a high heat process so you have the possibility of distorting the seat structure,” Havrilla said. Laser welding eliminates that chance of distorting the seatback.

“The laser process also is good for really small components like fuel injectors because these components require high accuracy and the laser produces a welded component with much less distortion compared with conventional joining techniques,” he added.

The second great advantage that lasers have is that they produce stronger welds than conventional techniques.

For example, lasers can be used either to stitch weld or where needed, provide a continuous weld in strength-critical areas, such as in the hinge area for car or truck doors on a body side door opening. With laser welding, vehicle manufacturers can reduce the hinge flange on the door to 8mm (0.315 in.) from the 15mm (0.59 in.) flange needed to accommodate resistance spot welding.

With high fuel prices, reducing the weight of the car – even by that small amount – translates into significant fuel savings, and laser welding contributes to weight reduction and fuel economy.