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Nowadays, nobody blinks a watch at two-day, one-day, and even same-day bundle deliveries. Regardless of the plethora of localized success and distribution facilities which have cropped as much as meet the demand, supply vans nonetheless must make significantly lengthy drives, typically over highways. To cut back gas and upkeep prices in addition to carbon emissions, corporations are investing in electric trucks for his or her supply fleets. Whereas turning to electrical vans is a promising answer, the battery packs integrated into these automotive designs typically fall quick within the lifetime wanted to make long-distance freeway journey possible.
To assist overcome the problem of battery lifetime, a consortium of universities and trade companions integrated multiscale simulation and a customized simulation app into the battery manufacturing course of. The organizations concerned on this mission had been Aurobay, Resolvent, the European Fee, the Technical College of Denmark (DTU), Vinnova (the Swedish Company for Innovation Techniques), Innovation Fund Denmark, and Volvo Group Vans Operations.
The simulation app, constructed by Resolvent, a Denmark-based engineering consultancy that makes a speciality of green energy, permits the R&D division at Volvo to simply check battery lifetime efficiency.
LaserWho?
The Multiscale Simulation of Laser Welding for Optimum Battery Pack Manufacturing mission — known as “LaserBATMAN” — was initiated in Might 2022 and wrapped up in Might 2025 (Ref. 1). Though BATMAN right here refers to battery manufacturing and never the well-known masked superhero, the objectives for the mission additionally strove for greatness.
The LaserBATMAN mission aimed to optimize two key efficiency metrics for battery packs: robustness and lifelong (Ref. 1). One aspect of the battery manufacturing course of that impacts each of those metrics is the laser welding utilized in part becoming a member of processes (for instance, to attach battery cells in a pack through a busbar). If performed appropriately, laser welding can positively impression battery life, but when performed incorrectly, laser welding can enhance the chance of battery degradation. Computational modeling can be utilized to investigate and predict the results of welding and becoming a member of processes at totally different levels of the manufacturing course of.
Martin Refslund Nielsen, former chief business officer and associate at Resolvent, defined that for any such multiphysics and multiscale drawback, “COMSOL Multiphysics is simply the precise instrument.”
R&D Workflow for Multiscale Mannequin and App
The Resolvent group used the COMSOL Multiphysics software program to review how laser welding impacts the electrochemistry and degradation of battery cells. No less than, that’s how the mission began.
“Ambitions grew,” Nielsen stated, explaining that the group ended up modeling the efficiency of the whole battery, from cell to pack stage, and even “turned [the model] right into a design instrument ultimately”, in reference to the app.
After coaching the deep neural network of the battery mannequin, the group constructed a customized simulation app to effectively optimize busbar tabs within the configuration of a battery pack.
First, the group constructed an electrochemical mannequin of a battery cell by inputting the formulation for the related chemical response kinetics (Determine 2). The ensuing cell-layer mannequin was then fed enter knowledge, and the output knowledge was used to coach a deep neural community (DNN). With this reduced-order mannequin, the group was capable of shortly achieve perception into cell conduct.
After coaching the DNN of the battery mannequin, the group constructed a customized simulation app to effectively optimize busbar tabs within the configuration of a battery pack.
A “Instrument Inside a Instrument” for Busbar Weld Design
The totally different options of the simulation app, as described by Nielsen, embody its choices to enter dimensions for the pack geometry (Determine 3), the variety of cells, and working circumstances resembling ambient temperature and cost–discharge present profiles. The app additionally makes it doable to use a easy charging present and cargo personalized cycles. Customers are then capable of see how the battery performs with every set of particular inputs.
Determine 3. The battery pack mannequin developed by Resolvent.COMSOL
One other necessary facet of Resolvent’s app is the Busbar Weld Design Instrument button, which Nielsen described as “a instrument inside a instrument.” This button can be utilized to effectively calculate busbar weld efficiency after a lot of cycles. After clicking the button, a window opens with choices for setting totally different parameters, together with the form of the weld, busbar thickness, and penetration depth of the laser (Determine 4).
“[This button] is fascinating from a sturdy design perspective,” stated Nielsen. Customers can apply a variant to the enter parameters to see what occurs in manufacturing if the weld doesn’t attain far sufficient into the busbar.
Determine 4. Resolvent’s simulation app, displaying how sure parameters may be personalized. The mannequin exhibits how the busbar weld is affected by a cooling airflow.COMSOL
“We actually get deep technical perception right here, and we are able to dimension the design within the candy spot. Deep technical perception can be key to optimizing product efficiency,” Nielsen stated. For instance, if the outcomes counsel higher cooling, the group may doubtlessly scale back the design by two battery cells and retain the identical efficiency, simply quantifying the tradeoff between cooling and setup.
Predicting Pack Efficiency
The app’s consumer interface additionally features a Compute Battery button, which can be utilized to see the temperature of the weld in a given state, the state of cost, and the strong–electrolyte interface (SEI) layer thickness (Determine 5). The outcomes might help the engineering group additional decide if there may be room for optimization within the design. For example, a consumer can apply a cooling move within the app and see if turbulence or standing air happens.
As defined by Nielsen, simulation apps provide extra constant evaluation and reporting, and the intuitiveness of customized apps makes it simpler to share information. “We’re in a a lot better place to optimize efficiency and enhance robustness,” stated Nielsen.
Determine 5. Temperature within the given state (left), state of cost (center), and SEI layer thickness (proper) within the battery pack.COMSOL
The customized simulation app developed by the LaserBATMAN consortium can be utilized to assist produce extra strong battery designs with ranges that may assist freeway journey over longer distances with fewer failures — all whereas selling the usage of inexperienced power. A heroic mission certainly.
References
- “LaserBATMAN,” College of Skovde, accessed 08/21/2025, https://www.his.se/en/research/virtual-engineering/virtual-manufacturing-processes/LaserBatman/.
- R. Nielsen, “Keynote: Optimizing Lifetime and Robustness of Electrical Truck Batteries with Simulation Apps,” COMSOL Convention 2024 Florence, October 2024.
