Empowering Battery Safety and Performance

The automotive battery separately on the white background

Batteries are key to range, performance, and longevity in new energy vehicles (NEVs). These factors are decisive for NEV owners and manufacturers, with safety, efficiency, and cost also crucial to success. Reliable and long-lasting batteries require top-class materials and precise production techniques. Cells, modules, and trays must also comply with very tight tolerances during final assembly.

Battery materials in focus

Among all elements in a NEV, the battery system significantly impacts the driving experience. Battery performance is highly influenced by raw materials, with the development of materials and structures playing a key role. Challenges include developing new active materials, ensuring a uniform and consistent supply thereof, maintaining proper calendaring pressure, and observing microscopic changes caused by aging.

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In particular, the choice of cathode, anode, and separator materials plays a decisive part, as they substantially impact the capacity, charging behavior, and service life of the battery. In addition, cell performance depends heavily on the material microstructure, the chemical composition of the particles, and possible impurities. By using the ZEISS VersaXRM 730, relevant material properties crucial for understanding the energy density of the cells can be precisely determined, leading to a significant improvement in battery performance. In addition, the patented correlative light and scanning electron microscope ZEISS EVO enables efficient correlation analysis, which is essential for optimizing material formulations.

ZEISS VersaXRM™ 730 connected to computer on the white background

High-resolution, non-destructive 3D X-ray microscopy

ZEISS VersaXRM™ 730 offers submicron imaging with 450-500 nm resolution across 30-160 kV with the exclusive 40x-Prime objective. Its ZEN navx™ automated user guidance and control system, and AI-driven DeepRecon Pro streamline workflows, optimize image quality, and speed up throughput. Thanks to modern imaging techniques such as High-Aspect Ratio Tomography (HART), the scanning speed and accuracy of large, flat, or irregular samples can be improved.

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Burr inspection and technical cleanliness

The geometry and composition of electrodes inside battery cells significantly influence safety and efficiency. To prevent safety issues and meet strict quality standards, the cutter blade used in the electrode-cutting process must be inspected and replaced on time. Since there is a high risk of particle contamination that can affect battery lifetime and quality, it is essential to detect this and identify the root cause via technical cleanliness with ZEISS Correlative Particle Analysis.

Battery cell production and assembly

Final inspection of the complete battery module is particularly demanding, as the individual cells in such modules pose several safety risks. All three cell types - cylindrical, prismatic, and pouch - require fast high-resolution testing cycles. Each type also faces unique challenges in terms of manufacturability, performance, durability, safety, quality testing, and failure analysis.

A central concern when inspecting battery cells is the detection of metal particles, delamination, winding, and weldings. This is where the X-ray solution ZEISS METROTOM 800 320 kV comes into play, enabling precise defect inspection during cell assembly. When assembling battery cells, it is essential to detect metal contamination that can occur during cell production to eliminate the risk of short circuits. In addition, safety risks and rejects must be minimized, which requires a thorough inspection of electrode alignment and position as well as the detection of internal defects. The high cell production speeds also demand fast and high-resolution inspection cycles.

Two professionals are analyzing data on multiple monitors in a modern ZEISS laboratory or workspace.

The battery size and density necessitate high-performance systems to perform a final quality inspection. This inspection involves checking the contamination and overhang dimensions. For these purposes, ZEISS Automated Defect Detection (ZADD) and the powerful ZEISS VoluMax 9 titan can be used.

Battery tray inspections

The battery tray houses all battery cells, connectors, control units, and packs containing numerous battery modules. As the battery tray is fully integrated into the vehicle body, its structure and integrity must be inspected at various stages during production to ensure quality and safety. Controlling the milling and drilling process in battery tray production is crucial for the quality and safety of the end products. One of the most challenging issues is the thermal expansion of the battery pack during charging and driving, which can lead to twisting and bending of the battery tray. To ensure that all critical functional characteristics are met, these must be measured randomly or through a comprehensive automatic final inspection.

The evaluation of the surface of the battery tray directly influences the dimensional accuracy of the entire vehicle body. Proper positioning of flexible cables and connectors is essential for correctly installing the battery tray and cover. For safe operation, the battery modules must be correctly inserted into the battery tray. With ZEISS CALENO horizontal arm CMM, multi-sensor measurements of many features can be carried out in fast test cycles. Non-contact optical laser scanners quickly extract feature data, while tactile probes capture optically inaccessible characteristics like undercuts. ZEISS ScanBox allows for fast, automated, complete 3D inspection of the battery tray, generating a complete geometric digital twin in just a few minutes. The ZEISS INSPECT software supports time-saving digital assembly, including all connection components and their alignment.

A technician in a ZEISS facility inspects a mechanical component in front of a ZEISS coordinate measuring machine.

Electric drive

Interested in technology for electric vehicles? Learn about efficient quality assurance of e-motor parts at the German company GROB. Their commitment to stringent quality standards has earned them a market leading role, trusted by over two thirds of all electric car manufacturers.

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Empowering the Future

High-resolution, non-destructive 3D X-ray microscopy

Electric drive