Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - BET-8

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

Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023

Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - Intro
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - Sponsor
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - Cov1
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - Cov2
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - 1
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Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - Cov3
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - Cov4
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - BET-Cov1A
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - BET-Cov1B
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - BET-Cov1
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - BET-Cov2
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - BET-1
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Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - BET-Cov3
Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - BET-Cov4
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