For Li-ion battery and electric motor manufacturers, cleaning and material removal are highly precise operations that must ensure the processing of extremely thin material layers without damaging the sensitive underlying materials. Other surface preparation methods, such as abrasive blasting and chemical cleaning, are too rough or too time consuming to be viable solutions. Laser cleaning and laser material removal, referred to as laser ablation, is a fast and repeatable non-contact process that has become an increasingly common choice for EV manufacturers, particularly for hairpin stripping and pre-weld cleaning.
Contact an E-Mobility expert to learn more about how IPG laser solutions can optimize your EV material removal applications.
Optimized Laser Pulses
Tuning Laser Pulse Properties Increases Material Removal Quality & Throughput
Lasers remove surface material by emitting light continuously or in pulses of higher peak power. Laser pulsing optimizes many E-Mobility material removal applications by vaporizing thin material layers while minimizing the overall heating effect on sensitive underlying parts.
The optimization of pulse power and frequency increases the quality and speed of laser ablation in a variety of E-Mobility applications, including selective electrode decoating, pre-weld cleaning, and selective stripping of the insulation from motor hairpins. Lasers with adjustable nanosecond pulse durations are a common choice for EV manufacturers but the fine tuning of laser properties enables process optimization across a wide range of material removal requirements.
Laser Beam Shapes & Sizes
Customized Beam Profiles Match The Ablation Task
Different ablation tasks benefit from laser beam shapes or energy profiles tailored to the application requirements. A highly focused, high energy density beam may be perfect for milling a ceramic surface while removal of oil and organic contaminants requires a less focused beam, enabling the use of a wide area beam to dramatically increase throughput.
Gaussian profiles, flat top, and round or square beams increase the process optimization opportunities by matching the laser spot shape to the processing area to maximize material removal rate.
From left to right: Gaussian, Flat Top, & Square beam profiles
Air-Cooled
Nanosecond Lasers
Average Power Up to 500 W
Pulse Energy Up to 2 mJ
Air-Cooled
Typical Applications:
- Pre-Weld Hairpin Stripping
- Pre-Weld Tab & Contact Cleaning
- Selective Electrode Decoating
High-Power
Nanosecond Lasers
Average Power Up to 2 kW
Pulse Energy Up to 2 mJ
Highly Flexible Material Removal
Typical Applications:
- Seal-Pin Pre-Weld Cleaning
- Pre-Weld Contact & Case Cleaning
- Pre-Weld Electrolyte Remvoal
Ultra High-Power
Nanosecond Lasers
Average Power Up to 3 kW
Pulse Energy Up to 100 mJ
High Throughput Material Removal
Typical Applications:
- Paint Stripping
- Pre-Weld Contact & Case Cleaning
- Equipotential Bond Weld Preparation
Ablation
LaserCell
Automated Cleaning & Material Removal
Work Envelope: 1000 x 1500 mm
Typical Applications:
- Battery Module Pre-Weld Cleaning
- Inverter Module Pre-Weld Cleaning
- Coating Removal for Connectivity
IPG partners with E-Mobility manufacturers throughout the entire production process from research and development to full-scale manufacturing.
Whether you want to demonstrate feasibility with laser-processed parts or just want to bounce design and implementation ideas off a laser material removal specialist, don’t hesitate to contact us. Even better, visit one of our 30 regional Application Development Labs to see how IPG can optimize your material removal applications.
