TAILORED BLANKS WITH FOAMABLE ALUMINIUM SANDWICH MATERIAL

R. Braune, A. Otto

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

Light weight composites offer a high application potential for modern car body concepts. Due to the structural and metallurgical light weight construction, sandwich materials with a core of aluminium foam are very important for the design of modern, fuel saving vehicles. Within this paper fundamentals of the process sequence laser beam cutting and welding for the fabrication of tailored blanks with foamable aluminium sandwich material are described. First results of laser beam cutting and the quality of the cutting edge are presented. The processing results and properties of laser welded aluminium sandwich materials are described by metallurgical examinations as well as foaming properties of the weld seam are presented.

Keywords: aluminium sandwich material, aluminium foam, laser beam cutting, laser beam welding, tailored blanks