Report on laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries

1. Laser technology is involved in lithium battery manufacturing
2. New battery technology drives the volume of laser welding
   1. Principle of laser welding
   2. Application status of laser welding
3. Other applications of laser welding
   1. Laser cleaning
   2. Laser marking
4. Analysis of key factories in laser welding

Laser technology, which refers to laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries, has the characteristics of high efficiency, precision, flexibility, reliability and stability, low welding material loss, high degree of automation and safety, and is fully used in lithium battery cutting, cleaning, welding, coding and other processes.

In recent years, the demand for automotive power batteries in China has grown significantly.  It is obvious that power battery installations in other countries also get improvement in these years. You can read our article about top 10 power battery installations in the world to know more about this industry.

Among the three core components of new energy vehicle battery like lithium ion marine batteries, motor and electronic control, the core component power lithium battery accounts for a high proportion of the cost of the whole vehicle, and also directly determines the cruising range of the whole vehicle.

1. Laser technology is involved in lithium battery manufacturing

The production and manufacture of lithium batteries are connected by a series of processes. The production process is mainly divided into three parts: pole piece manufacturing, cell manufacturing and battery assembly. The quality of lithium batteries directly determines the performance of new energy vehicles, so its manufacturing process has extremely high precision requirements.

As an advanced optical manufacturing tool, laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries is used in the cutting, cleaning, welding and coding of power lithium battery components due to its high efficiency, precision, flexibility, reliability and stability, low welding material loss, high automation and safety. 

2. New battery technology drives the volume of laser welding

Laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries has many advantages such as deep penetration, fast speed, and small deformation, which can greatly improve the safety of power batteries. Laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries is widely used in new energy vehicles and power battery industries. There are many welding parts of power battery, which is difficult and requires high precision.

Power battery manufacturers also have high requirements for the automation and safety of battery production equipment. The unique advantages of laser welding technology can improve the safety, reliability and consistency of batteries, reduce costs and prolong service life, making it the best choice for power battery manufacturers.

1. Principle of laser welding

The main core elements that determine the quality of laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries are laser energy control and welding technology.

•  Laser energy control

According to the data, due to the different absorption rates of the welded materials to different wavelengths of laser light, the laser selection is different, and the welding effect is completely different. In order to output a uniform and stable welding laser beam to the weldment, the laser output power needs to have good consistency.

Too low power will lead to insufficient welding melting and affect the welding quality. Too high power will lead to adverse effects such as spatter and pores. Therefore, the control of laser energy has become one of the most critical technologies in laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries.

• • Welding technology

According to the data, the interaction process between laser and material is relatively complicated, and the effect of laser welding is related to factors such as laser wavelength and power density. Therefore, laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries is also one of the key factors affecting welding quality.

According to the working principle, welding can be divided into five types, namely heat conduction welding, deep penetration welding, composite welding, laser brazing and laser conduction welding.

2. Application status of laser welding

The use of laser welding in the production of power batteries is in the cell manufacturing process and the battery pack process. According to the data, in the production of power batteries, the use of laser welding mainly includes:

1.  Welding of pole ears (including pre-welding), spot welding of pole strips, pre-welding of battery cells into the shell, sealing welding of the top cover of the shell, injection molding Liquid port sealing welding, etc.
2.  Welding of connecting pieces during battery pack module, and welding of explosion-proof valve on the cover plate behind the module, etc.

The value of the former laser welding is about 10-30 million RMB/GWh. Laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries accounts for about 5-15% of the investment of power battery manufacturers. According to experts, according to the calculation of the investment amount of power battery single GWh equipment is about 200 million RMB, we can estimate that the investment amount of laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries unit GWh is 1000- 30 million RMB.

The 4680 large cylinder has higher requirements on the laser process, and the welding volume is expected to increase compared with the square battery and the small cylindrical battery.

• 4680 battery has higher requirements for laser technology, and the uncontrolled shape of the tab is a process difficulty.
• 4680 large cylindrical battery laser welding has more welding processes and required welding equipment than square battery and small cylindrical battery. Therefore, the demand for laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries of 4680 large cylinders is expected to increase compared to square batteries and small cylindrical batteries.

3. Other applications of laser welding

1. Laser cleaning

During the battery assembly process, laser cleaning can perform laser cleaning on the insulating plate and end plate, clean the surface of the cell, roughen the surface of the cell, and improve the adhesion of glue or glue.

Before the coating of the pole piece, the positive and negative plates of the lithium battery are made by coating the positive and negative electrode materials of the lithium battery on the metal strip. When the metal strip is coated with the electrode material, the metal strip needs to be cleaned. For cleaning, metal strips are generally thin aluminum or copper.

2. Laser marking

The whole production information of lithium battery, including raw material information, production process and process, product batch, manufacturer and date, etc., needs to store key information in the QR code and mark it on the battery. Laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries has the characteristics of strong permanence, high anti-counterfeiting, high precision, strong wear resistance, safety and reliability.

4. Analysis of key factories in laser welding

There are lots of manufacturers which have rich experience in laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries, and in the following, some of them will be listed.

• Wuxi Lead

Wuxi Lead provides a complete line of lithium battery intelligent manufacturing solutions covering various battery types such as square shell batteries, cylindrical batteries, soft pack batteries, and solid-state batteries. It has a variety of laser technology capabilities and laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries

reserves.

Wuxi Lead smart 2021 laser precision processing equipment has been used in consumer electronics, display panels, semiconductors, automobiles, lithium batteries, photovoltaics and other industries, including laser cutting, laser welding, laser marking, laser etching, laser drilling and other intelligent equipment and whole lines serve.

• Hymson

In terms of technical reserves, Hymson is committed to improving the efficiency of pole cutting and assembly line, and at the same time extending to lamination technology, pole piece cutting laser research, etc. Hymson actively explores lamination process requirements (MEB platform), cutting and stacking integrated machine (MEB platform), 4680 and other new product and new technology research and development and application.

• United Winners

United Winners Laser focuses on the field of power battery welding, specializing in the research and development, production and sales of precision laser welding machines and laser welding automation complete sets of equipment. The company’s market position in the field of power batteries with extremely high requirements for laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries is particularly prominent. United Winners has strong R&D and technical advantages in the field of laser welding.

• Yinghe Technology

Yinghe Technology focuses on the core lithium battery equipment. The company’s lithium battery automation equipment is widely used in the main processes of the front and middle stages of lithium battery production.

Through continuous research and development and innovation, the technical performance of the company’s series of core equipment such as coating machines and roller presses is leading in the industry. In 2021, the company received orders for lithium battery equipment from CATL, BYD, SVOLT, EVE, etc. Yinghe Technology has product reserves such as laser die-cutting machines, and has launched one-out six-laser die-cutting all-in-one machines.

• Liyuanheng

The company is one of the leading companies in China’s lithium battery manufacturing equipment industry, and continues to develop laser control, laser welding, laser cutting, and laser cleaning technologies to increase the application scenarios of laser technology. Liyuanheng has laser die-cutting and slitting in laser cutting.

And also it has machine, laser tab slitting machine and other product reserves. In laser welding, they have a reserve of laser welding machine for lithium ion batteries.

• JPT

JPT is the first manufacturer in China to commercialize mass production of MOPA pulsed fiber lasers. The advantages of MOPA lasers are obvious, and the company’s products have been applied to the production of pole pieces for battery cells.

The company’s MOPA pulsed fiber laser products have the characteristics of adjustable pulse width, wide frequency range, fast response speed, available first pulse, small output power fluctuation in the full temperature range, small size, and low noise. The company was selected as CATL’s supplier to provide MOPA pulsed fiber laser for CATL, which is used in the pole piece cutting process of power battery manufacturers. If you want to know detailed information about the factories, you can click on our top 10 power battery installations in China article.

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