Modern automobile manufacturing uses a large number of different materials, including plastics, metals, textiles, glass, rubber, etc. Some high-end luxury cars are constantly experimenting with new materials like carbon fiber, while also using traditional solid wood and leather materials.
Processing such a variety of materials requires a powerful tool, which gives the CO2 laser a place to use it.The CO2 laser was invented in 1964. It is one of the earliest laser technologies. It is still the mainstay of industrial material processing and is widely used in the automotive industry. Generally, the output power of CO2 lasers ranges from tens of watts to several kilowatts, which can be used in processing applications of different materials.
The low-power type CO2 laser is mainly used for marking and engraving, while the high-power type can cut and weld easily and accurately. Therefore, the parts that can be processed by laser can almost cover most areas in the automobile manufacturing process.
Plastic cutting
CO2 lasers are widely used in the processing of automotive plastic parts, including interior trim parts and dashboards, columns, bumpers, rear wings, trims, license plate frames and car lights.These parts will use different types of plastics, including ABS, TPO, polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), HDPE, acrylic, and various composite and laminate materials.
The plastic material can be pure plastic, painted, or combined with other materials, such as fabric-covered automobile inner pillars (A-pillar, B-pillar or C-pillar), made of composite materials or facing materials The finished instrument panel is filled with structural supports for reinforcement of carbon fiber or glass fiber.The laser can be used to cut and drill fixed points, lights, switches, parking sensors and other parts, and can also be used to cut gates or trim excess plastic in the injection molding process.
The lampshade and lens of the headlight of the front car are made of transparent plastic, and a laser is usually required to trim the excess plastic in the mold. Car lights are usually made of polycarbonate (PC), which has high optical transparency, impact resistance and fragmentation, various weather conditions and strong resistance to ultraviolet radiation.
Although the edge of this special plastic material will be rougher after laser processing, after all the front headlights are installed, the processed parts are hidden and will not affect the overall performance of the lights. When laser processing most plastic materials, it usually forms a smooth edge without subsequent trimming.
Plastic cutting usually uses a laser above 125W. Depending on the processing speed required, the configured power will be different. Generally, the faster the speed, the greater the power required.
Since cutting operations often require laser beams or parts to move in three-dimensional space, manual operations are tedious and time-consuming. Therefore, laser technology has begun to be combined with flexible robot systems.
Robot
Modern automobile production is highly automated, and the application of robots in the entire automobile industry is already common.In order to optimize the processing flow of the production line, CO2 lasers began to be used in combination with robots, and gradually replaced traditional tools.
Integrating CO2 lasers into robots is a challenge. In practical applications, engineers can integrate CO2 lasers into robots in three ways:
In the first type, the laser is directly mounted on the robot's articulated arm, and the beam is transmitted to the workpiece through a precision articulated light guide unit. Then, use programming to make the robot cut relatively complex shapes according to the trajectory, and always keep the beam focused.
The second type is that the robot grabs the workpiece and moves the workpiece according to the processing track before the fixed laser focus point. This is a relatively simple mechanical device, suitable for smaller robots, and the size of the workpiece that can be processed is limited.
In the third type, the laser is connected to a light guide arm, and the robot grabs the light guide arm and moves the joint arm according to the required trajectory to cut parts.
In the first case, the laser must be able to withstand the acceleration generated by the robot's motion. The robot also needs to be large and powerful enough to carry and move the laser. In other words, the laser must be compact and light enough to be directly mounted on the robot's articulated arm. In this regard, Luxinar's SR series lasers are the ideal choice.In the second case, galvanometers are usually used to control the movement of the laser beam, and the robot is responsible for adjusting the processing surface and position of the workpiece. A typical application is to make holes in the dashboard of a car-drill some small holes on the surface of the dashboard, usually 1 mm in diameter, which allows air to pass through the small holes when bonding other covering materials to the upper surface of the dashboard It is pulled away to make the bond closer.
The same method is also suitable for cutting larger holes and tracks, such as the cutting of switch and sensor holes. Luxinar's high-power segment lasers, such as SCX and OEM series lasers, are often used in these applications.
Fabric cutting
Automotive interiors usually contain several textile materials for different purposes, the most common of which is interior fabrics.
The laser can be used to cut fabrics or engrave patterns. The processing speed depends on the type and thickness of the fabric. The higher the power, the faster the cutting speed. The laser can cut most synthetic fibers clean and the edges are sealed, which ensures that the material will not be scattered at the edges during the stitching and assembly process of the car seat.
Many vehicles are covered with a layer of fabric on the inner pillars, and they can all be laser processed. In the mold forming process, the fabric is attached to the plastic part, and the laser cuts the excess fabric from the edge to conform to the design and layout of the vehicle. This requires a 5-axis robot to perform processing, and the cutting head will accurately cut the fabric along the contour of the part. Medium-power CO2 lasers, such as Luxinar's SR and OEM series, are very suitable for this type of processing.
The fabric is not only used to decorate and increase the comfort of the ride, but also can be used in the safety system of the car, that is, seat belts and airbags.
Modern cars are usually equipped with multiple airbags as standard to ensure the safety of drivers and passengers. Airbags are usually made of densely woven nylon or polyester fibers, and sometimes a silicone coating is added to the surface to enhance breathability.
Airbags are divided into plain-woven airbags and one-piece (OPW) airbags; plain-woven airbags are stitched together from fabric pieces of different shapes, and the structure of one-piece airbags (OPW) is formed directly on the loom, and both are required later Cropped. Reliable and efficient CO2 laser is an ideal tool, which can minimize material waste through stable and efficient cutting. In addition, laser processing is non-contact processing, which retains the structure and integrity of the material to the greatest extent, and the silicone coating on the surface of the material will not be worn.
The same technology can also be used for scribing the car dashboard and door cladding. By selectively weakening the structural parts, the airbag can be deployed at a preset position when the car is in a collision to protect the drivers and passengers. effect. This laser scribing is implemented on the back of the interior trim panel to form an invisible weakening line, ensuring the integrity and beauty of the automotive interior trim. Therefore, this processing needs to be implemented within extremely tight tolerances.
Surface texture
CO2 laser processing is not limited to cutting, drilling and edge trimming in the automotive industry.In fact, CO2 laser ablation is also used in automobile manufacturing. A good example is surface modification, or the removal of paint coatings from the surface of plastic parts/composites. When some workpieces need to be installed with adhesives to parts containing paint coatings, in order to make the bonding stronger, the surface coating of the parts needs to be removed or roughened. The laser is combined with the galvanometer to quickly ablate the material in the required area by means of filling and scanning.
The energy of the laser can be adjusted to just enough to ablate the surface material without damaging the material itself. The precise geometry can be easily realized, the ablation depth and surface roughening degree can be easily controlled, and the ablation-removed pattern can be easily changed.
Laser manufacturing technology is not exclusive to luxury cars and future concept cars. In fact, it has been maturely used in vehicle assembly line manufacturing. If you have a thorough understanding of a mass-produced car, you will find that many parts have the mark of CO2 laser manufacturing.
Perhaps you will see that the safety information of the vehicle is already marked on the window glass; there is also a lot of information on the tires of the car; the drainage holes on the rubber door seals and even the wiper blades are used to increase the flow of water in use. The small holes are all processed by CO2 laser.
The brake disc is treated with laser texturing; the enamel layer on the copper strip surface of the hairpin motor of hybrid or pure electric vehicles is removed by laser; the license plate frame, instrument panel, door panel, lamp cover, inner column, filter housing and air intake pipe and other plastic parts Has been laser cut or trimmed.
The versatility of CO2 lasers has allowed today's automakers to continuously search for new materials to match the use of this mature and stable technology.
Sino-Galvo Tech. is the leading galvanometer scanner manufacturer. The laser welding machine equiped with our scanner system can reach the heighest precision leavel. Welcome to contact us for further information.
Welcome to consult: +86-18921551023
