Sponsored by Avery Dennison Efficiency Tapes.
Tapes can simplify complicated processes, help robotic meeting, cut back scrap, and extra.
By Max VanRaaphorst
Globally, greater than 60 million EVs are actually on the street. It’s a quantity which may have appeared unimaginable only a few years in the past. It underscores how EV OEMs have moved past needing solely to show feasibility, and should now show manufacturability — the flexibility to scale-up quickly whereas maximizing high quality, security and earnings.
The identical holds true for EV and e-mobility batteries. Whereas the know-how continues to evolve, the trail to marketability now goes by manufacturing. Profitable suppliers shall be these that may optimize their manufacturing processes, automate successfully and produce prime quality at a low value.
That path could appear daunting. However there are methods out there that can lead to larger high quality and throughput. One such technique is supplies choice, significantly that of pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes.
What do PSA tapes provide for battery design?
PSA tapes are a mature, subtle and various know-how utilized in a variety of industries, together with automotive and transportation. Relying on its configuration, a tape could characteristic one or two adhesives that bond to a substrate upon the appliance of sunshine stress, a facestock that gives dimensional stability and different qualities, and a liner that protects the adhesive till its software.
These versatile tapes can simply slot in tight areas whereas serving to restrict a pack’s total mass. They provide clear and repeatable software and are usually suitable with automated manufacturing processes.
From a producing perspective, such advantages could make PSA tapes an enhanced various option to liquid adhesives, which require remedy time and have variance of their software; and mechanical fasteners, which enhance half rely and mass.
PSA tapes will also be personalized to offer qualities that transcend easy bonding. Some examples: Electrically insulative movie facestocks can improve a system’s dielectric safety
technique. Tapes mixed with flame barrier supplies, equivalent to mica, can improve thermal safety. Tapes laminated to thick foam facestocks can present shock absorption for delicate elements.
PSA tapes as a design-for-manufacturability answer
Importantly, PSA tapes might be personalized not only for the tip use, however for particular challenges of the manufacturing course of itself. That is the essence of DFM.
The very fact is, battery manufacturing is very complicated at a number of ranges. Cell, module and pack manufacturing contain totally different substrates, tight tolerances and layered assemblies, and electrical and thermal administration necessities. Wasteful manufacturing steps and injury to fragile battery elements are ache factors, and could also be frequent occurrences for producers utilizing conventional bonding and meeting strategies.
How PSA tapes handle ache factors and optimize battery manufacturing
Enter PSA tapes. Listed here are only a few methods this DFM answer may help optimize battery manufacturing.
PSA tapes cut back course of steps, manufacturing line prices and complexity
The usage of PSA tapes eliminates among the time-and effort-intensive steps related to conventional bonding and fastening strategies. As talked about earlier, tapes require no remedy time. As soon as adhered, a taped half can transfer instantly to the subsequent step of the manufacturing course of. This protects time and eliminates the necessity for tools equivalent to curing ovens, serving to handle CAPEX.
Avery Dennison next-gen Volt PowerfulTM Stretch presents a main instance of those advantages.
The product is a PSA-tape-based dielectric insulation answer engineered for adhering to flat steel blanks. These blanks can then be lower and stamped into no matter shapes are wanted for the battery element’s design. The “stretchability” engineered into the tape prevents the dielectric barrier from tearing or cracking throughout these processes.
Conventional dielectric methods, equivalent to powder coating, can add complexity and price to a manufacturing course of whether or not achieved in-house or outsourced. As a PSA tape, next-gen Volt Powerful Stretch can extra simply be utilized inline, manually or robotically, to advertise simplicity and price financial savings.
PSA tapes help automation and robotic software
By utilizing tape constructions tailor-made to their software and automation strategies, e-mobility producers can design environment friendly and efficient automated processes. PSA tapes help a number of automation methods, together with pick-and-place of die-cut components, single-pass liner removing and software, and wide-web lamination for giant elements equivalent to cooling plates.
As a result of PSA tape bonding happens instantly upon contact with a substrate, elements are much less more likely to shift throughout switch between stations. That is significantly necessary for layered battery assemblies, the place misalignment can result in electrical clearance points, uneven thermal interfaces and downstream meeting failures.
Dimensional stability is one other plus for PSA tapes utilized robotically. Movie-based carriers equivalent to PET resist stretching throughout robotic dealing with and placement, enhancing positional accuracy at excessive software speeds. The place assemblies require conformity round edges or uneven surfaces, nonwoven or foam carriers can be utilized to steadiness flexibility with automation compatibility.
For battery producers targeted on scale, PSA tapes engineered for robotic software may help stabilize manufacturing strains, enhance yield and enhance total tools effectiveness.
PSA tapes assist handle scrap charges and promote high quality
Many battery supplies are delicate and tough to deal with, making them particularly susceptible to wreck throughout high-speed meeting. PSA tapes might be personalized to assist battery producers restrict these supplies’ contribution to waste and scrap charges.
A standard problem happens throughout liner removing. Supplies equivalent to mica or ceramic paper can tear, delaminate or fracture if subjected to extreme stress and forces.
PSA tape constructions that pair controlled-release liners with appropriately balanced adhesive programs cut back the mechanical stress positioned on these supplies throughout automated or semi-automated removing. This leads to fewer broken components getting into downstream processes.
Producers equivalent to Avery Dennison can wonderful tune a liner’s removing drive by approaches equivalent to controlling the discharge components (low, medium or excessive) and/or zone coating the adhesive.
As well as, tapes might be designed for compatibility with imaginative and prescient programs to help inline high quality checks. Printed liners or pigmented adhesive programs permit automated tools to confirm half presence and placement earlier than the meeting progresses additional down the road. Figuring out defects early permits for removing of noncompliant components previous to the addition of worth, thus decreasing the whole value of scrap.
At scale, such incremental enhancements compound. By decreasing dealing with injury, misalignment and late-stage defects, PSA tapes optimized for battery manufacturing assist enhance total yield whereas lowering manufacturing prices.
Engineering PSA-tape-based DFM options in your manufacturing line
A logical first step in creating PSA-tape options in your manufacturing wants is to find collaborators who can present experience and capabilities you might not have in-house. The trade is served by a wide range of PSA tape producers who can fulfill this function.
Some questions to think about as you vet tape producers:
- Does the producer have expertise and software experience within the battery trade?
- Does the producer have the R&D capabilities to develop the options I want?
- Does the producer have the enterprise urge for food to develop personalized options? (Not all do.)
- Does the producer have entry to a community of extra corporations, equivalent to tape converters and useful materials producers, who could also be essential to my success?
- Does the tape producer present ongoing help?
Ideally, this relationship begins early in your product design part. This provides the tape producer most leverage to develop options that work in your manufacturing course of.
My firm, Avery Dennison, collaborates with OEMs and suppliers to tailor PSA-tape-based options to particular cell, module, and pack designs. We provide a variety of PSA-tape options for the e-mobility battery trade, and our portfolio is backed by in depth R&D capabilities.
In regards to the writer
Max VanRaaphorst is market supervisor for Power Storage at Avery Dennison Supplies Group North America. With a decade of technical, gross sales, and advertising expertise within the adhesives and tapes subject, Max strives to assist OEMs and suppliers handle design, manufacturing, and efficiency challenges within the fast-evolving vitality storage phase.
