Automotive joining of light-weight materials enabled by fiber lasers 26 APR 2017, GALM, Birmingham, UK Mark Thompson Director of Sales & Service, UK T h e P o w e r t o T r a n s f o r m TM Nasdaq: IPG Photonics (IPGP)
Contents IPG Photonics - Company Overview Static Beam forming for automotive joining Dynamic beam forming for advanced joining Copyright IPG Photonics
IPG Photonics Overview History IPG Photonics Istanbul (Turkey) Oxford, Massachusetts (USA) Barcelona (Spain) Daejeon (Korea) Bristol (UK) Gliwice (Poland) Detroit (MI, USA) Burbach (Germany) Bangalore (India) Singapore Sao Paulo (Brasil) 1991 1994 1997 1998 2002 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2012 2014 2015 2017 Moscow (Russia) Milan(Italy) Beijing (China) Praque (Czechia) Tokyo (Japan) California (USA) Strasbourg (France) Headquarter/Production Production/Sales/Service Sales/Service Copyright IPG Photonics
IPG Photonics Overview General data IPG Photonics 2016 Sales by Geography and End-Use Founded in 1991 12% year-over-year increase > 4,360 employees Total Sales >1 Billion US$ in 2016 31% 15% 54% 1200 1000 800 600 400 Net Sales (millions) $769.8 $648.0 $562.5 $1006.3 $901.3 Asia Europe, CIS Americas 94 % Materials Processing Advanced Applications, Medical, Telecom 200 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Source: IPG Photonics Annual Report 2016 Copyright IPG Photonics
IPG Laser Products Overview Leadership in Automotive Low Power CW Fiber Lasers Mid Power CW Fiber Lasers High Power CW Fiber Lasers Quasi-CW Fiber Lasers Nanosecond Fiber Lasers Pico & Femtosecond Fiber Lasers Mid-IR Hybrid Lasers CW Fiber Amplifiers Diode Lasers Copyright IPG Photonics
IPG Complimentary Products Overview Components Fiber Beam Delivery Beam Switches & Fiber Couplers Process Heads Collimators Chillers Copyright IPG Photonics
Automotive Product Lines Products for mainstream automotive applications Welding Remote processing Brazing Ablation/Cleaning Micro machining Cutting
Static beam forming tri-focal fiber delivery Motivation/ Requirements! High Reliable Process stability! Increased Speed! Increased Strength! High quality seam appearance at Hot-Dipped Zn coated Materials! Inline Cleaning process! Dynamic power modulation Main spot Welding Trifocal Process fiber side spots Ablation
Tri-focal Fiber Laser 3 beams in a single cable with independent power control Ablation side spots (2x 150W) Welding centre spot (1500W) Trifocal process (1500W + 2x150W)
Welding of Zn-coated material @ Zero Gap Monofocal welding galvanized + hot dipped Trifocal welding galvanized + hot dipped
Car roof welding Aluminium Tri-focal welding Side Spot P L = 4,1 kw P Side = 2 360 W V Rob = 4,0 m/min V Filler Wire = 4,2 m/min
Tri-focal - Brazing of hot dipped Zn coated steel Key Applications: ROOF JOINING & Trunk/Boot-lid joining P = 2,4 kw + 2 x 340 W v = 3,6 m/min Brazing of Hot-Dipped Zn coated
Welding of Aluminium Roof - Comparison Mono-focal welding of Al Real part from production Tri-focal welding of Al Real part from production Standard Cross section Improved Cross section
Dynamic beam forming with fiber laser Principle of a wobbling head Mirror General Specifications Max Wobble frequency 300 khz Laser Power up to 8 kw Max focal length 500 mm Full Scanning Range +/- 7,5 mm 72 Focal Lens Focal Length
Wobble Dynamic Beam Forming Optics for dynamic beam guidance Wobble head Scanner Delivering up to 2kW & High brightness lasers Arbitrary figures possible
Dynamic beam forming improves joint quality " Higher frequencies and low welding speed to generate large melting pool " Controlled thermal input " Intermetallic properties matched to need Circle Welding direction Wobble Welding direction Wobble Linear Example: 20 Hz 15mm/sec.
Copper and Aluminium Welding Technology Breakthrough Example: Fiber lasers for highly reflective material joining Challenge: Aluminium and copper are highly reflective materials, reducing the absorbed light in low brightness welding processes Historically gave poor weld strength and high spatter Unacceptable weld quality Requirements: Welding highly reflective materials requires: higher brightness lasers BUT with less excess heat input improved process stability compared to large spot welding Solution: Single mode, SM fiber lasers deliver significantly higher brightness Dynamic beam forming (or wobble welding) adds stability And distributes the thermal load to match with material properties
Approach Wobble (SM) Without wobbling: Power: 1kW Speed: 1m/min With wobbling: Power: 1kW Speed: 1m/min Frequency: 300 Hz Diameter: 0.4 mm
Approach Wobble (SM) Without wobbling: Power: 1kW Speed: 1m/min With wobbling: Power: 1kW Speed: 1m/min Frequency: 300 Hz Diameter: 0.4 mm
Approach Copper Welding with Wobble Welding and high brightness single mode fiber laser Power: 1 kw Speed: 1 m/min Spot diameter: 30µm Ø = 0,1 mm Ø = 0,2 mm Ø = 0,4 mm f = 300 Hz f = 600 Hz f = 900 Hz
Summary Tri-focal Fiber Laser shows for brazing:! Higher speed: +30% Higher strength: +30% Higher surface quality! Production Energy savings > 60% Tri-focal Fiber Laser shows for welding:! Higher speed for Aluminum Improved surface quality without cleaning! Welding of 6000 alloys without filler wire! Spatter free Overlap welding of Zn-coated materials @ zero gap Dynamic beam forming enables dissimilar materials welding! Wobble head welding matches laser brightness to materials properties! Single mode high brightness lasers weld highly reflective materials CHALLENGE US TO JOIN YOUR MATERIALS OF CHOICE:
Thank you for your attention! Mark Thompson MD, IPG Photonics (UK) Ltd Axis 1, Hawkfield B Pk, Bristol, BS14 0BY IPG Laser, Burbach Germany mthompson@ipgphotonics.com www.ipgphotonics.com www.ipgphotonics.com Thank you for your attention! Copyright IPG Photonics