Disassembly methods of joints for circular battery packs (DIJON)

Vivek Patel, docent at University West, leads an exciting research project where friction stir welding is tested with the aim of making battery packs recyclable.

So far, EV battery design and manufacturing has focused on efficient and high-performing virgin products. However, to enable circularity in the EV battery industry, extra attention must be paid to re-use, re-manufacturing, and recycling aspects of the battery packs. To enable circularity, the battery packs must be designed with a new approach. More specifically, the joints in the battery packs must be manufactured to allow to be taken apart, (disassembled) and then joined again (re-assembled) if needed.

The goal of this project is to develop new joint design solutions, including disassembly and re-assembly methods which enable a circular flow of next generation's EV battery packs. Today's battery packs are joined with a combination of adhesive joints, mechanical joints, and thermal joints all with their pros and eons in terms of different properties such as performance, manufacturability, cost, etc.

This project aims to evaluate these joining methods also with regards to disassembly and re-assembly and to develop new joining, disassembly and re-assembly methods which can enable circularity. The methods will also be evaluated in terms of potential for automatization and in terms of operator health and safety. By researching these topics, the project will address several areas in the FFI roadmap, including product design for circularity and social sustainability through clean and safe processes.

The project is lead by RISE with project partners Swerim and University West, who inhibit proven knowledge, expertise, and experience within the field of joining technologies and disassembly. In addition, Volvo Car Corporation and Polestar represent relevant EV battery design competencies while Stena Recycling can provide the project with relevant challenges and requirements from the recycling industry. ABB is a key party for automatization and industrialization of the disassembly methods and Atlas Copco will provide support regarding joining equipment and disassembly automatization.

External monitoring of the research field confirms that the questions addressed in the project are relevant to the current industrial challenges. Research has so far mainly focused on the potential of recycling of battery cells inside the battery pack, but less attention has been spent on the disassembly of the battery pack to access the battery cells. Moreover, the published technical solutions that show promising results are yet to be industrialized to be implemented in large-scale production. Finally, the aspect of health and safety for operators during disassembly are yet to be conclusively assessed. The project aims to bridge the knowledge gap in these research topics.