Remote Laser Welding of Automotive Components. Bo Lindgren VP of Engineering April 12, 2012

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1 Remote Laser Welding of Automotive Components Bo Lindgren VP of Engineering April 12, 2012

2 Agenda Van Rob Inc. Growth of laser welded components Products in production Manufacturing Equipment Dimensional stability Design to be stronger Quality systems Conclusions 2

3 Global Footprint Van Rob Inc Kirchhoff Gruppe Van Rob Kirchhoff (VRK) Canada Mexico Ireland Poland Japan Corporate Headquarters Windsor Sales & Marketing Queretaro, Mexico Puebla, Mexico Letterkenny, Ireland Mielec I&II, Poland Gliwice I&II, Poland Hamamatsu, Japan Aurora, Ontario Richmond Hill, Ontario North York, Ontario United States China Suzhou, China Germany Iserlohn, Germany Attendorn, Germany Olpe, Germany Saarlouis, Germany Hungary Esztergom, Hungary Korea Cheonan, Korea Manchester Tennessee Tecumseh, Michigan France Portugal Spain Russia Ymeray, France Ovar, Portugal Cucujaes, Portugal Figueruelas, Spain St Petersburg

4 Growth of Laser Welded Products in Van - Rob

5 Background These following slides are showing how the laser process can increase sales of different components. Using laser welding cells to achieve very high dimensional accuracy in larger welded modules. Weight saving is on everyone's mind. The latest contracts have been won in tight competition against other concepts and manufacturers. 5

6 Steel Rad Support Manufacturing Location Manufacturing location Aurora Canada started 2006 Aurora 6

7 Manufacturing Locations Map of all locations of Laser Based Manufacturing Aurora Michigan Manchester, TN Arlington, TX Hermosillo VRK Puebla 7

8 Products in Manufacturing at Present Time

9 Pick-up Steel Radiator Support GM steel Rad-Support production started in 2006 Volume 600,000 to 1,000,000 6 cells with Co2 laser welding sources were used in the manufacturing systems for welding of the profiles

10 Laser-welded steel profiles Inner and outer post Upper and lower tie-bar 10

11 Inner post and outer post welding Uncoated material Material 1.0mm thick. HSLA material 420 mpa

12 Butt Welding of inner and outer post.

13 Seatback Manufacturing Seatback panels Volume 500,000 / year 13

14 Installations of Cross Car Beams Instrument panel beams volume Total 580,000 14

15 Process Equipment

16 Layout for Current MIG Weld Program OP 10 OP 20 OP 30 OP 40 16

17 Current Process Different types of mig welding cells with 2-3 robots Weld speeds are around 1meter / minute 1. High heat input to the part resulting in high distortion 2. Multiple fixtures 3. High amount of people 4. Based on weld access of weld torch, part has to be made in multiple steps 5. Fasteners have to be welded in sub assembly's before final welding of beam 17

18 REMOTE LASER SOURCE One laser source used with beam switching to service multiple weld cells Beam switching increases the laser utilization without significantly impacting the cycle time depending on the part We are using 6 kw disk lasers 18

19 LASER WELDING HEAD Programmable focus optic (PFO) welding head (3-D) Laser transmitted to head through fiber optics from laser source Elliptical weld envelope dictated by the offset distance from the work piece (for example: a 450 mm offset creates a 320 mm by 190 mm elliptical envelope)

20 Highlights From Our Laser Welding Cells Less tooling due to faster welding (each tool has more clamping units) Less operators?? Flexible Simple operator stations High mobility, easy to move within the plant or to other plants Lower capital cost 20

21 Dimensional Stability

22 Laser Welding Experimental Setup 10mm Gap Vertical Sensor Horizontal Sensor Laser Welding Cell IP Tube

23 Experimental Sample-1 MIG welding Sample Laser welding Sample 23

24 Laser vs. MIG Welding Heat Distortion Comparisons Horizontal Sensor Vertical Sensor Part Vertical Distortion Comparison 1 D isto rtio n (m m ) Measurement Point Laser welding cell MIG welding cell MIG welding Laser welding Laser Welding Sample MIG Welding Sample Welding Heat Distortion: Laser: Vertical 1.3mm vs. Horizontal 0.5mm MIG: Vertical: 3.7mm. Horizontal 0.5mm

25 Design to Make Stronger

26 New Test Method and Setup for Laser Welding Prototype and MIG Welding Production Parts Round bar allowing for rotation A new method is developed to test real CCB weld strength quantitatively Instron Machine Peel Test Setup 26

27 Peel Test Comparison of Brkt I/Pnl to cowl top RH MIG Welding Production Parts Laser Welding Sample 1.8 mm Laser Welding Shape Failure mode Peel Test Force (KN) Welding length Laser welding Raw material C ( 28 mm/each ) 1 U (( 21.5 mm/each ) MIG welding HAZ x 20mm

Welding Shape Failure mode Peel Test Force (KN) Welding length

28 Laser Welding / MIG Welding Peel Test Comparison of G/B Side Frame 1 mm MIG Welding Production Parts Laser Welding Sample Laser Welding Shape Failure mode Peel Test Force (KN) Welding length Laser welding Raw material C( 28 mm/each ) MIG welding HAZ X 20mm

29 Laser Welding / MIG Welding Peel Test Comparison of G/B frame Brkt 1.2 mm MIG Welding Production Parts Laser Welding Sample Laser Welding Shape Failure mode Peel Test Force (KN) Welding length Laser welding Raw material C ( 28 mm/each ) MIG welding HAZ X 20mm

30 Lap Joints Configurations U shape C shape S shape

31 Quality systems

32 QUALITY OVERVIEW: Laser Welding Quality Analysis Weld Watcher 4D Laser Welding Monitor Weld watcher 4D system overview (left) 4D operator interface screen (below)

33 Weld Cross Section C 3 key dimensions for lap joint weld : h W g Penetration Concavity Width at interface Weld strength is determined by weld width at interface of two sheets 33

34 Conclusions

35 Why we are designing with laser welding Less weight (no weld-wire, use of thinner material possible) Less tooling due to faster welding Less operators Higher dimensional quality, less weld distortion Flexible Quick-change Simple operator stations High mobility, easy to move to other plants Lower energy consumption with higher efficiency lasers Lower capital cost 35

36 Designing with Laser Welding Weld from thin to thick Understand your weld joint Understand your GD&T Know your materials Stamping dies have to produce higher quality parts Ventilation Redundancy Laser lab Quality inspection systems 36

37 Thank You for your attention Questions 37

PROCESS TECHNOLOGY. for lightweight design in automotive industry. TRUMPF Laser- und Systemtechnik GmbH. Marc Kirchhoff Industry Management Automotive

PROCESS TECHNOLOGY. for lightweight design in automotive industry. TRUMPF Laser- und Systemtechnik GmbH. Marc Kirchhoff Industry Management Automotive TRUMPF Laser- und Systemtechnik GmbH PROCESS TECHNOLOGY for lightweight design in automotive industry Marc Kirchhoff Industry Management Automotive Ditzingen, 27.01.2015 1 Design fit-for-laser Lightweight