Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET8

Thermal Management
Challenges When Laser
Welding Cooling Plates
Large in scale and complex in geometry,
battery cooling plates must meet
stringent requirements to achieve robust
seams that can provide a long leak-free
service life. To avoid mechanical failure,
the joints cannot have any cracks, humping,
undercut, or porosity defects in the
interface (Figure 4).
While laser welding's high aspect ratio
translates into lower part distortion potential
when compared to thermal welding,
it can also pose challenges, since
keyhole stability is crucial for achieving
high weld quality.
The laser keyhole generally remains
stable during the welding of high-absorption
materials
such as
steel and
nickel. Unfortunately, when welding copper,
aluminum, and high-alloy materials
such as those required in cooling plate
production, the keyhole can be inherently
unstable, making the process susceptible
to irregularities that compromise weld
quality. One common method to overcome
these defects is wobbling the beam
and beam shaping, which varies laser
beam spot shape and size.2
Laser Beam Shaping Methods
Three broad categories of beam-shaping
include static, variable,
and dynamic. Static
and variable methods rely
on diffractive optical elements
(DOEs), which provide
cost-effective beam
shaping via a thin pattern
on a robust window that
diffracts and modulates
the phase of the light
passing through it.3 For
static beam shaping, a variety
of DOEs can tailor
the shape of the laser
beam output at the workpiece.
Limited flexibility
of static solutions makes
them suitable for applications
with very well-defined
process parameters.
Using adjustable ring
shapers that split the
beam into a central spike,
or core beam, and a surrounding
ring beam, DOEs
No. 1
1.43mm
Figure 4: Cracks, humping, undercut, and interface pore defects are common when using traditional laser welding
to join cooling plates. (Image: Civan Lasers)
Lb-23-018-51
Under cut
8
L1-01-27.3-558-278
Humping
Battery & Electrification Technology, March 2023
4
Weld Depth
1
Plasma Cloud
2
3
Keyhole
Molten Material
Figure 3: The deep-penetration welding achieved in the keyhole can overcome many joining
challenges by producing high-quality welds. (Image: Civan Lasers)
2048.023 μm
LR-20-027.2-409-E
L1-01-27.3-569-276B
Cracks
Interface Pore
No. 2
5.18mm
1341.010 μM

Automotive Engineering - March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - March 2023

Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - INTRO1
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - SPONSOR1
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - CVR1
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - CVR2
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 1
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 2
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 3
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 3A
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 3B
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 4
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 5
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 6
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 7
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 8
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 9
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 10
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 11
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 12
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 13
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 14
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 15
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 16
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 17
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 18
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 19
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 20
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 21
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 22
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 23
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 24
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 25
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 26
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 27
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 28
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 29
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 30
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 31
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 32
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - 33
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - CVR4
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BETCVRA
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BETCVRB
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BETCVR1
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BETCVR2
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET1
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET2
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET3
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET4
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET5
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET6
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET7
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET8
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET9
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET10
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET11
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET12
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET13
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET14
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET15
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET16
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET17
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET18
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET19
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET20
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET21
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET22
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET23
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET24
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET25
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET26
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET27
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET28
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET29
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET30
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET31
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET32
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET33
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BET34
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BETCVR3
Automotive Engineering - March 2023 - BETCVR4
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE10B
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE10
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE09B
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE09
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE08
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE06
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE05
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/24AE02
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE12
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AAVE11
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE10
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE09
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE08
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AAVE07
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE06
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE05
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AAVE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AE02
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/23AAVE01
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE12
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AVE11
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE10
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE09
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE08
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AVE07
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE06
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE05
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AVE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE02
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AVE01
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE12
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE11
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE10
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE09
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE09
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE08
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE07
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE06
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE05
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE05
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE04
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AVE03
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/21AE02
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com