64 September/October 2023 | E-Mobility Engineering Peter Donaldson explains the factors at play in designing and producing busbar and interconnect systems Joined-up thinking Large EV battery packs can contain thousands of cells that have to be connected to form modules and packs, then connected via busbars to other driveline components such as inverters and DC-DC converters to make robust and reliable connections quickly and efficiently in confined spaces while keeping costs down. That has made the design and construction of busbars and interconnect systems an important subject of r&d as voltages get higher and the thermal conductivity of their components becomes increasingly important to cooling. Engineers therefore face a set of challenges in designing and manufacturing these systems, particularly in massproduction environments. General application areas such as automotive, aerospace and marine present similar demands on busbars and interconnects in terms of performance, reliability and safety, but with different emphases. A leading power transfer, management and materials developer highlights the priority given to vibration resistance in automotive applications, weight reduction and space saving in aerospace, and resistance to corrosion in marine environments – although all of them are important to some degree in every application. In terms of regulation, aerospace applications face the most demanding requirements, but they also benefit from the redundancies those regulations mandate, according to a major electrical, industrial and power management company. Performance and reliability are also critical in the automotive sector, as customers increasingly expect zero defects, and being stranded owing to battery issues is unacceptable. Further, making safe parts efficiently for millions of passenger vehicles at a competitive price is in its own way just as challenging, says a major chemistry and specialty materials provider. Taken together, the charge and discharge cycling requirements, the shock and vibration stresses and the cost targets associated with automotive applications represent a unique set of demands that have to be met with inventive approaches and high efficiency, in performance as well as manufacturing, notes a precision metal stamping and ultrasonic welding specialist. Materials challenges With a wide diversity of battery technologies and architectures, engineers are expected to provide a large and versatile range of solutions with no compromise on safety, an expert from the power transfer company says. A polymer-coated busbar is bent along its width in a CNC wire bending machine. The coated wire might also have to be bent through its thickness and twisted to reach the connectors (Courtesy of Wafios)
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