Welcome
The  automotive  industry  sector  is  a  vital part of the European
economy.  The  EU  is  the largest automotive production region in
the  world  with  34%  of  global  manufacture   and   the  industry
comprises  7.5%  of  all  manufacturing  sectors  within  the  Union.
The  increasing  demand  for  improved  fuel  efficiency and reduced
emissions at lower, competitive costs, have prompted the automotive
industry  to  seek  ways  of  reducing  the  weight  by using new light-
weight materials,new joining processes and new manufacturing concepts.

Due  to  pioneering  work  in  the  industry, the use of lasers for production
welding  of  Tailor-Welded  Blanks  (TWBs)  and  Body-In-White  (BIW)
structures  is  now  common  practice.  Current  weld  quality  monitoring  and
inspection techniques for these applications are often difficult in their application,
performed  off-line,  and  are  therefore  time-consuming  and  expensive.  Moreover,
current  NDT  inspection  and  tear-down,  in which a fully assembled car is put through a
controlled  crash,  is  only  a  sampling  test,  as  not  all  parts can be inspected individually.
Because of the implications on the human and economic costs of the currently applied procedures,
major vehicle manufacturers would prefer to have an NDT record for each weld. It is also the intention of performing this testing on-line, as 100% inspection using current off-line procedures is economically not viable.

This pre-competitive project will develop a new, fast, monitoring and NDT inspection system, the OLIWAM system, to be used on-line, providing a 100% inspection rate for thin-sheet laser welded automotive components. The system’s software will allow for on-line evaluation of the results, with remedial actions, if any, taken immediately, significantly reducing repair costs and scrap rates. Generic concepts for up to a further four NDT inspection systems will also be developed to further facilitate fast, reliable on-line detection of weld imperfections.