E-mobility
Under the influence of climate change, the car industry is increasing its attention to the development and production of all kinds of electric vehicles. The demand for CO2 reduction stimulates the production of lightweight designs. This trend offers BWI the opportunity to apply its experience in welding technology to new products, such as battery housings or frames of electric vehicles.
Lightweight design
When the weight of a car decreases, CO2 emissions decrease. An ideal way to reduce the weight of a vehicle is to use light non-ferrous materials or high-strength steels, eg for the body or chassis of electric vehicles. It is therefore expected that the demand for solutions for joining these materials will increase. In this context, BWI is investigating various new welding techniques.
Battery housings
Other solutions are also being sought for the production of battery housings. BIL is preparing for these new requirements and questions. For example, the housing of the battery must have a low weight, but above all it must be strong and compact.
Busbar battery cell connections
Copper and aluminum are most commonly used for this application. However, joining these materials poses challenges in terms of the welding technology to be used. One of the generally accepted connection methods for connecting battery cells to busbar is ultrasonic welding, thanks to several advantages including joining dissimilar materials, coated materials or materials of different thickness.
Welding with the environmentally friendly technologies
BWI pays attention to environmentally friendly welding techniques, in particular solid-state welding techniques such as friction spot welding or electromagnetic pulse welding. These processes are particularly suitable for welding aluminum alloys or dissimilar material combinations. The big advantage of the solid-state welding techniques is that they are low in emissions and energy consumption is low. Pre-treatment of the parts to be joined is not necessary.
Friction spot welding uses a rotary tool to create a spot weld. Electromagnetic pulse welding is an impact welding technique that is ideal for realizing all kinds of material combinations. Various other techniques are also being investigated in a wide range of research projects.