Seam Properties of Overlap Welding Strategies from Copper to Aluminum Using Green Laser Radiation for Battery Tab Connections in Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Laser beam welding of metals has progressed dramatically over the last years mainly arising from joining applications in the field of electromobility. Allowing the flexible, automated manufacturing of mechanically, electrically, and thermally stressed components, the process is more frequently applied for joining highly reflective materials, for example for battery tab and busbar connections. The local, non-contact energy input favors this welding technology; however, joining of copper and aluminum sheets still poses a challenge due to the physical properties of the joining partners and intermetallic phases from dissimilar metal interaction, which reduce seam performance. The use of green laser radiation compared to infrared laser radiation offers the advantage of a significantly increased absorptivity for copper materials. A changed incoupling behavior is observed, and a lower deep penetration threshold has been already proven for 515 nm wavelength. When copper and aluminum are welded with the former as top sheet, this welding mode is essential to overcome limited aspect ratios from heat conduction welding. However, the opportunities of applying these beam sources in combination with spatial power modulation to influence the interconnection area of copper-aluminum joints have not yet been studied. The aim of this work is therefore to investigate the seam properties and process stability of different overlap welding strategies using green laser radiation for dissimilar metal welding. A microstructural analysis of the different fusion zones and mechanical strength of the joints are presented. In addition, the experimental parameter sets were analyzed regarding their application in battery module busbars by examining the electrical resistance and temperature distribution after welding. A parameter window was identified for all investigated welding strategies, with the stitched seam achieving the most stable results.