Laser solid body welding in chassis construction
From 1988 to 2000, INPRO made a decisive contribution to the introduction of high-performance solid state lasers in vehicle production.
INPRO activities to transfer scientific and technical knowledge to the industrial application of solid-state laser welding ranged from the implementation of technology studies, development of prototypes, such as for the beam (coupling of laser sources) and automated fibre monitoring for processing of specific problems in laser joining operations. INPRO thereby implemented the first kW solid state laser and was the driving force behind the development of ever-greater laser performance. Further development work led to the creation of prototypes for laser welding of aluminium or hard laser soldering in chassis manufacturing.
Last but not least, INPRO also seconded INPRO employees to its partners in order to implement the innovation, which reached serial production capability in the 1990's and has increasingly gained in importance. Welding with solid state lasers is a key technology today for the manufacture of vehicles with greater quality, better security as well as improved comfort; it also offers new lightweight construction potential.
The success of innovation in the introduction of solid state laser welding in chassis production has also become evident in the success of participating partners. HAAS Laser, which was later taken over by the machine tool manufacturer TRUMPF GmbH, was directly involved in the solid state laser programme carried out by INPRO. In addition, several companies in the Berlin area were established with links to innovative solid state laser welding. These include: HIGHYAG Lasertechnologie GmbH, Photon Laser Engineering GmbH and Scansonic GmbH, which today operate successfully, have created many highly qualified jobs and deliver important facility components to INPRO partners.