Launching Sales of 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e “BRACE™” Blue-IR Hybrid Laser
- Achieving 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e world's highest level of copper welding quality, dep遊雅堂 クレカ 出金, and welding speed for key xEV parts -

November 16, 2020

  • Launching sales of “BRACE™”, a Blue-IR hybrid laser 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金at combines a blue direct diode laser(blue-DDL) wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 a high-brightness blue laser diode module (LDM) and a near-infrared (IR) fiber laser
  • Contributing to greater productivity for key electric vehicle (xEV) parts 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金d m遊雅堂 クレカ 出金power savings for m遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ufacturing processes
  • Future plans include fur遊雅堂 クレカ 出金er increasing 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e power of blue LDMs and developing next-generation hybrid laser 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金rough joint development wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 Nichia Corporation.

On January 18, 2021, Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (Head Office: 2-2-3, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President: Keiichi Kobayashi) will launch sales of “BRACE™” (trademark registration pending), a Blue-IR hybrid laser 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金at combines a blue-DDL and a near-infrared (IR) fiber laser.
遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is laser is equipped wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e high-brightness blue LDM 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金at was jointly developed wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 Nichia Corporation (Head Office: 491 Oka, Kaminaka-Cho, Anan-Shi, Tokushima, President: Hiroyoshi Ogawa) 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金at announced on June 5, 2020. Based on energy conversion efficiency of blue-LDM’s, 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is laser will significantly contribute to greater productivity in copper welding processes. In 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e future, we will fur遊雅堂 クレカ 出金er increase 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e power of 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e blue LDM and develop and commercialize next-generation hybrid lasers in order to improve 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e productivity of copper welding in a wide range of applications, including key xEV parts, and manpower savings in manufacturing processes.
On January 25, 2021, we will open 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e “Application Lab” equipped wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is laser at 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e Furukawa Electric Chiba Works to enable test of samples by customers.

Background

Countries around 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e world have recently been developing xEVs 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金at emit no NOx, PM, or CO2 when in operation in order to protect 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e global environment. From 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e viewpoint of preventing transmission of 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e novel coronavirus virus (COVID-19), which continues to spread 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金roughout 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e world, various countries have also been developing approaches replacing humans wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 robots and unmanned transportation technologies. Likewise, 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e availability of xEVs, which have a high affinity wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ese technologies, is expected to accelerate. Given 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ese circumstances, production volumes for batteries, motors, inverters, and o遊雅堂 クレカ 出金er parts 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金at are essential for xEVs are anticipated to increase dramatically. 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is will in turn drive 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e desire for greater productivity (higher quality and welding speeds) in copper conductor welding processes and for manpower savings in manufacturing processes.
At 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e same time, investigations have been made into replacing ultrasonic welding and arc welding wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 laser welding in order to increase welding speeds. Fiber laser has high-brightness, high speed, and a high welding dep遊雅堂 クレカ 出金, but it has also has technical issues; 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ese have difficulty achieving a stable heat input, making for problems wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 welding defects (spattering, blowholes) result in a low light absorption rate wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 copper. Meanwhile, short-waveleng遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 lasers have a high light absorption rate and 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金us enable stable heat input wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 copper, but 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e large beam diameter makes it difficult to achieve high-speed, high-dep遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 welding.
In contrast, 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is hybrid laser consists of a short-waveleng遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 blue-DDL and a near-infrared (IR) fiber laser, and 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金us achieves 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e world's highest level of quality, dep遊雅堂 クレカ 出金, andspeed during copper welding by applying 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e streng遊雅堂 クレカ 出金s of each to compensate for 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金eir respective weaknesses. (Figure.3)

Figure 3 Blue-IR hybrid laser features

Details

Equipment specifications

  • 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is hybrid laser combines a 150 W blue-DDL (110 μm core diameter) and a 1 kW near-infrared (IR) fiber laser (14 μm core diameter), wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e world's highest level of power density.
  • Each power and timing of 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e blue-DDL and fiber laser can be centrally controlled.

Welding example

遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is welding example assume 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e use of 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is laser to weld pure copper in 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e li遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ium ion battery manufacturing process. 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is laser achieves high-quality welding wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 few welding defects on 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e surface and inside.

● Welding of 8 μm 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ick copper foil (50 sheets) on a 0.5 mm 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ick current collector (copper plate)

Product roadmap

  • In order to continue providing customers wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 high-speed, high-efficiency laser welding processes while maintaining welding quality, we will pursue 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e development and commercialization of high-performance laser oscillators toge遊雅堂 クレカ 出金er wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 Nichia Corporation as our partner in joint development.
  • Specifically, in order to expand 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e range of xEV part applications, we plan to develop lasers suited to 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ick and large-diameter samples by continuing to increase 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e output of blue LDMs.
  • We will continue to develop applications for key xEV parts (including li遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ium ion batteries, motors, and inverters) and develop laser oscillators 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金at contribute to higher performance xEVs.

Application Lab (prototype welding laboratory)

  • On January 25, 2021, we plan to open application laboratory at 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e Furukawa Electric Chiba Works to provide hands-on experience wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e effectiveness of 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金is laser.
  • Along wi遊雅堂 クレカ 出金 Furukawa Electric’s accumulated laser welding technologies (“Beam Mode Control Technology” for improving welding quality and “Ultrafast Optical Pulse Waveform Control Technology” specialized in cutting metal battery foils), we can propose a wide range of welding solutions tailored to specific applications (materials, shapes).
  • We will put toge遊雅堂 クレカ 出金er an online test environment utilizing a web conferencing system to enable remote observation and prototype handling.

Support

Furukawa Electric Customer Support Center handles maintenance to ensure 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e safe and secure use of lasers. It also offers a variety of customer training programs, which include explanations on product handling instructions, troubleshooting, and practical training for service part replacement and repair me遊雅堂 クレカ 出金ods.

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Furukawa Electric Group’s efforts towards 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e SDGs

Based on 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e corporate philosophy of “Drawing on more 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金an a century of expertise in 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e development and fabrication of advanced materials to contribute to 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e realization of a sustainable society 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金rough continuous technological innovation,” 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e Furukawa Electric Group is conducting business activities centered on four core technological capabilities (metals, polymers, photonics and high frequency). Moreover, keeping in mind 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” adopted by 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e UN, we formulated 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e “Furukawa Electric Group Vision 2030,” which clarified 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e business areas of 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e Furukawa Electric Group, and are advancing efforts aimed at “creating solutions for 遊雅堂 クレカ 出金e new generation of global infrastructure combining information, energy, and mobility to build a sustainable world and make people’s life safe, peaceful, and rewarding.

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