Laser welding has been used in various industries to help with forms of manufacturing that can benefit from the efficiency, accuracy and repeatability that lasers offers when compared with conventional welding methods.

In the automotive industry, TurcWeld laser welding systems are used at several different levels throughout the process of producing key components for each vehicle as it moves along the assembly line. From car batteries (for cutting edge zero-emissions models) to differential gears and other precision parts, TurcWeld laser welding systems are increasingly common as a tool for major automakers to harness.

Laser welding can also be integral to the installation of seat rails in modern vehicles, as well as a host of other structural elements that make cars safe and stable. Here is a look at how TurcWeld laser welding systems are changing the game in this competitive arena right now.

Dissimilar Material Welding

There are various market pressures exerted upon the design of automotive seat rails, and the seats which are attached to them. Manufacturers want to make these constructions as light as possible to boost fuel efficiency, while also ensuring that no compromises to safety are made while achieving this.
As a result, seats and rails are typically produced using a variety of materials, including a combination of super-sturdy steels and other light, yet strong, alloys. Welding dissimilar materials can be a challenge, yet it is one which TurcWeld laser welding solutions can take on with ease. Even metals which are too conductive, or reflective, for other forms of welding to be effective, can be manipulated with fiber and disk lasers.
This is achieved through enabling added degrees of control over the heat input, as well as the fact that an incredibly compact melt zone can be specified to minimise waste, and damage, to the surrounding material. As many of the metals involved are incredibly thin, damage reduction clearly has a key role to play in ensuring the structural integrity is not compromised.

Older welding techniques were essential to automotive manufacturing for decades, but their now unwieldy, inefficient nature, has imposed limits on what they can be used for. This means that to fulfil the ambitious designs of contemporary engineering experts, laser welding is the best way to go.

Laser welding reduces energy costs, and also offers improved flexibility in terms of the way that welding solutions are mounted. Remote, robotic systems are configured to carry out complex welding routines, repeated almost endlessly, with little need for maintenance across the installation of seat rails and other parts.