Laser Welding for Batteries

Revolutionary Technology for Battery Industry

Laser Welding is a revolutionary technology for welding batteries that are highly sensitive to thermal effects. For instance, laser welding has already been widely used in lithium-ion battery fabrication1 . In addition, the laser welding process uses a low heat application – the weld is formed as the intense laser beam rapidly heats the material in a non-contact way, typically in milliseconds.  This laser application minimizes any damage to the components or materials.

Benefits of Welding Batteries with Lasers

The main parts that can be welded with laser technology are battery tabs, busbars, and connectors. Laser allows the wiring of these parts with different shapes: spot, line, hollow circle, triangle, etc. Given this flexibility, laser technology offers much more benefits:

• Low heat input and high energy density result in high weld quality and productivity2.
• High pull strength;
• Higher overall joint strength due to the ability to make more welds (greater total welded area) in a smaller space;
• While joining dissimilar metals, laser welding technology reduces the thickness of the intermetallic layer, minimizes the formation of pores and cracks, and increases the mechanical properties of the weld3.
• Faster manufacturing cycles as laser welding is >5 times faster than MIG and >10 times faster than TIG;
• Flexibility in overlapping spot design;