Aluminum Laser-Welded Blanks

August 15, 2014

Jennifer Shuttleworth

Shiloh Industries, Inc. claims to offer the industry’s lightest aluminum door blank for mass production without compromising part integrity or formability, allowing automakers to further reduce mass compared to existing methods. According to the company, its new proprietary laser-welding process overcomes the current challenges with weld integrity and offers a solution for OEMs using or considering aluminum in their vehicles. This innovation provides automakers a significant weight saving compared to traditional methods, the company claims. For example, four aluminum, single-piece (monolithic), door-inner blanks of similar geometry weigh 35.5 lb (16.1 kg), whereas Shiloh’s aluminum laser-welded door-inner blanks weigh 26.8 lb (12.2 kg), a reduction of nearly 9 lb (4 kg) or 25% per vehicle. According to Shiloh Industries, automakers switching from steel monolithic blanks to aluminum laser-welded blanks save nearly 58 lb (26 kg) per vehicle.