Investigation of Battery Electrode Surface Topography During Clamping for Format-Flexible Laser Cutting

Powertrain electrification plays a crucial role in transforming the transport sector in a resource-efficient and environmentally friendly way, with the battery as a key component. Battery production and the raw materials required are cost-intensive. Minimizing production waste is therefore becoming increasingly important. An essential process step is the singulation of the electrode foils. Laser technology enables wear-free and format-flexible cutting into the target format-dependent electrode geometry compared to mechanical die cutting. Due to the small focal tolerances of the laser optics used, the surface topography significantly influences the cutting process reliability and the cut edges’ quality. A 3D stereo camera system is used to record the topography of the electrode surface during the clamping process and to derive an optimal clamping strategy. The correlations between vacuum gripper diameter, jaw gripper stroke and surface topography were investigated to derive optimal handling process parameters for reliable laser cutting of format-flexible battery electrodes.