October, 2022


www.us-tech.com


Page 61


Process Stability in Ultrasonic Welding of Battery Cells By Christoph Schlittenhardt, Copywriter, Herrmann


cells, CUSTOMCELLS® pursues the lowest possible reject rate in battery production with maxi- mum process reliability. For its welding applications,


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the company relies on ultrasonic technology in one of their produc- tion lines. The ultrasonic weld- ing systems from Herrmann Ultraschall used there minimize the reject rate and optimize pro- duction efficiency.


Optimizing Reject Rates In the production line, CUS-


TOMCELLS performs pre-weld- ing and main welding on pouch cells. The first step in the pre- welding process is to pre-weld the individual layers of copper foil for the anode and the individ- ual layers of aluminum foil for the cathode. In a second step, the main welding, so-called tabs are welded to the cathode and anode. Both pre-welding and main


welding require strong, material- to-material connections to ensure the functionality of the battery cells. If individual foil layers are not completely joined together or if there are tears in the foil, which are only a few microns thick, this can lead to rejects and then to the disposal of the entire cell. The ultrasonic welding


machines from Herrmann pro- vide a stable process for these connections. The HiS VARIO B 20 kHz systems have been spe- cially developed for welding bat- tery applications with multilayer foils. They reduce production waste and production costs.


Special Battery Design A special feature of the bat-


tery cell developed by CUSTOM- CELLS is the size of the tabs. They are significantly smaller than what is typically used in the industry. In order to ensure a reliable connection between the tab and the anode or cathode, the sonotrodes of the ultrasonic welding machines were adapted to the respective size. Due to ongoing research and


development work, Herrmann Ultraschall was able to draw on an existing, special sonotrode design at the beginning of the project. This guaranteed a reli- able welding process for the CUSTOMCELLS battery appli- cation. After a short time, the appropriate welding parameters were also evaluated in the ultra- sonic laboratory. The changeover to Herrmann welding systems could be implemented with virtu- ally no downtime for production. Both Herrmann welding sys-


tems are permanently used for the welding of cell tabs at CUSTOM-


See at SMTAI, Booth 1025


s one of the world’s leading developers of customer- specific lithium-ion battery


CELLS. Within the scope of series production, the ultrasonic welding systems will be inte- grated into the automated pro- duction line in a future step. Ongoing consulting as well


as the development of suitable welding solutions by Herrmann Ultraschall will en able smooth process integration. The interaction of suitable


welding solutions and excellent service forms the basis for effi- cient production of battery ap - plications using ultrasonics.


To ensure low rejection rates, the ultrasonic welder must be precisely matched to the application.


Flexible service by the ultrason- ic partner is important for the success of a welding project in order to kdeep reject rates very- low and be able to react imme- diately to changes in the pro-


duction process, if necessary. Contact: Herrmann


Ultrasonics, Inc., 1261 Hardt Circle, Bartlett, IL 60101 % 630-626-1626 E-mail: marketing@herrman- nultrasonics.com Web: www.herrmannultrason- ics.com r


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