The 2022 Honda Civic has a laser-brazed roof, extending the technology to entry-level OEM vehicles and using higher strength steel (HSS) and aluminum to save weight, Honda’s project leader said at his Great Steel Design workshop.
Overall, HSS makes up 38 percent of the Civic’s bodywork, according to Jill Fuel, local program manager for new models at American Honda Development and Manufacturing in Greensburg, Indiana.
“We focused on areas that improved the crash rating, including the front engine bay, some areas under the doors, and an improved door knocker design,” she said. The 2022 Civic receives a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
High speed steel materials used include high strength and excellent formability (hot rolled), 9%; formability advanced high strength steel (cold rolled), 16% ultra high strength steel (cold rolled), 6% and ultra high strength steel (cold rolled). ), 6% High strength steel (hot rolled) 7%.
The rest of the steel in the structure is galvanized commercial steel – 29%, high-carbon alloy steel – 14% and double-phase steel of increased strength (hot rolled) – 19%.
Fuel said that while the use of HSS is nothing new for Honda, there are still issues with attachments for newer applications. “Every time a new material is introduced, the question arises, how can it be welded and how can it be made sustainable in the long term in a mass production environment?”
“For a while, the biggest problem for us was trying to weld the seam around or through the sealant,” she said in response to a question. “This is new for us. We have used sealants in the past, but their properties are different from what we have seen in high-performance adhesives. So we have integrated … a lot of vision systems to be able to control the location of the sealant related to the seam.”
Other materials, such as aluminum and resin, also reduce weight but also serve other purposes, Feuel said.
She noted that the Civic has an aluminum hood designed to reduce pedestrian injury through the use of shock-absorbing points and embossed areas. For the first time, a North American Civic has an aluminum hood.
The hatchback is made from a resin-and-steel sandwich, making it 20 percent lighter than an all-steel component. “It creates attractive styling lines and has some of the functionality of a steel tailgate,” she says. According to her, for consumers, this is the most noticeable difference between the car and its predecessor.
This is the first time a Civic hatchback has been produced in Indiana. The sedan is similar to the hatchback, sharing 85% chassis and 99% chassis.
The 2022 model year introduces laser soldering to the Civic, bringing the technology to Honda’s most affordable vehicle. Laser-soldered roofs have previously been used by OEMs on a variety of vehicles, including the 2018 and up Honda Accord, 2021 and up Acura TLX, and all Clarity models.
Honda has invested $50.2 million to equip the Indiana plant with the new technology, which occupies four production halls at the plant, Fuel said. It is likely that this technology will be extended to other upgraded American-made Honda vehicles.
Honda’s laser soldering technology uses a dual beam system: a green laser on the front panel to preheat and clean the galvanized coating, and a blue laser on the rear panel to melt the wire and form the joint. The jig is lowered to apply pressure to the roof and eliminate any gaps between the roof and side panels before soldering. The whole process takes about 44.5 seconds per robot.
The laser soldering provides a cleaner look, eliminates the molding used between the roof panel and side panels, and improves body rigidity by fusing the panels, Fuell said.
As Scott VanHull of I-CAR pointed out in a later GDIS presentation, bodyshops don’t have the ability to do laser soldering. “We needed a very, very detailed procedure because we couldn’t re-do the laser soldering or laser welding in the body shop. In this case, there were no tools available that we could safely use in the repair shop,” VanHulle said.
Repairers must follow Honda’s instructions at techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/logon.aspx for safe and proper repairs.
Another new process developed for the Civic involves shaping the rear wheel arch flanges. The process, according to Fuell, includes an edge guide that mates with the body and a roller system that makes five passes at different angles to complete the look. This may be another process that repair shops cannot replicate.
Civic continues the industry trend by increasing the use of high performance adhesives on various underbody components. Fuel said using 10 times more adhesive than on previous Civics increases body rigidity while improving the ride experience.
The adhesive can be applied in a “cross-linked or continuous pattern”. It depends on the location around the application and the welding site,” she said.
The use of adhesive in spot welding combines the strength of the weld with more adhesive surface area, Honda says. This increases the rigidity of the joint, minimizing the need to increase sheet metal thickness or add weld reinforcements.
The strength of the Civic floor is increased by the use of trellis framing and connecting the front and rear ends of the center tunnel to the bottom panel and rear cross members. Overall, Honda says the new Civic is 8 percent more torsional and 13 percent more flexural than the previous generation.
Part of the roof of a 2022 Honda Civic with unpainted, laser-soldered seams. (Dave LaChance/Repairer Driven News)
Post time: Feb-15-2023