LASER World of PHOTONICS 2019 | No e-mobility without lasers

Описание: No lasers, no e-mobility – that’s quite clear at the LASER World of PHOTONICS in Munich. Photonics is a key technology for e-mobility - in complex manufacturing processes of high-voltage batteries and electric motors as well as in lightweight construction.

André Häusler, Micro Joining Group, Fraunhofer ILT
"Because of the laser beam sources we use, we have multiple options as well as flexible and highly automated tools, enabling us to handle a variety of different manufacturing technologies and applications – and we can combine them all in electromobility."

In electric motor and battery production especially, copper is an essential component. Trumpf is introducing a new technology specifically for this area.

Dr. Rüdiger Brockmann, Director Industry/Product, TRUMPF
"We’ve developed a new laser – a green laser – and it quite simply features excellent absorption properties for copper. It makes copper really easy to process, and copper welding is far easier than with infrared lasers. And today, for the first time, we’re presenting this laser as an industrial product at the trade fair."

The green laser operates almost entirely splash-free, thus enabling excellent quality during production. The one kilowatt of output is due to be successfully increased in the future.

Laserline relies on the blue laser. The blue diode laser is continuous-emission, with 1.5 kilowatts of power.

Dr. Simon Britten, Innovation Manager, Laserline
“With the blue diode laser, we can now achieve absorptions of more than 50 percent, for the first time enabling very good controllability of the energy input – and also controlling the heat input, driving processes that were not possible before, especially for e-mobility."

SPI Lasers UK uses neither the blue nor the green laser. For welding operations, the English rely on lasers in the nanosecond range.

Dr. Mike Poulter, Product Manager, SPI Lasers UK
"It's an innovative change with the new nanosecond welding lasers. We've got higher powers, we're now at 250 watts on our water-cooled pulse laser. These are nanosecond pulses. This allows us to do really, really quick foil cutting. We're doing foil slitting, foil cutting, and the same laser is doing the welding. So it's actually a really versatile source - it's doing multiple applications within that industry."

In addition to welding, imaging and sensor technology are becoming increasingly important for e-mobility. Quality control checks are growing more demanding and more complex. In Munich, Arges is presenting solutions for process monitoring at a new level.

Thomas Buckert, Hardware Development, ARGES
"Our OCT system has a depth resolution of 8 micrometers, and those 8 micrometers enable it to scan an image up to 12mm deep – so that even complex and three-dimensional components can be captured right away.”

The Fraunhofer Institute is presenting an electric racing car together with students: the "eace05". The model drives with laser-welded batteries and contains laser-cut CFRP components.

Carl Hergeth, Student, Head of Sponsoring, Ecurie Aix - RWTH Aachen
"We use laser technology in different aspects. Here we have additive components that are produced by laser sintering. And they enable us to build geometries like this cooling sleeve for the engine that can’t be made any other way. That saves us weight, it’s lightweight construction, and it lets us implement ideas that we would otherwise only dream of."

Research and industry continue to develop lasers and their potential applications, making e-mobility better and more efficient. It’s all there to see at the LASER World of PHOTONICS.