Concept for Digital Product Twins in Battery Cell Production

Abstract

This paper presents an approach for the design and derivation for establishing a digital product twin for battery cells. A digital product twin is a virtual replica of a physical battery cell and can be used to predict and optimize quality properties and performance in real-time. The study focuses on pouch cell manufacturing and aims to map the large amount and variety of process information down to purchased parts and interim products. The approach for this study was to collect and analyze data from the physical production process and use this information to structure a digital battery product twin based on its product architecture. The main findings of this study indicate that a digital product twin can be effectively structured and implemented in a digital interface based on its product architecture in combination with data from the physical production process. The results of this study show the potential of digital product twins, in which statements about material, design, and behavior can be made using real information from production. Further research will focus on the practical application and implementation of digital product twins in a battery cell pilot production.

Identification of Relevant Parameters for Traceability in the Continuous Mixing Process in Battery Cell Production

“…To ensure a consistent presentation and naming, parameters with different names but the same meaning were combined into a single parameter. Based on this list, the parameters were categorized into overarching, raw materials, dry mixing and dispersing according to Kampker et al [ 9 ]…”

“…This is due to the mixing of different materials to a slurry paste, the mixing of multiple batches of slurry in the buffer tank prior to the coating process, and the unknown interdependencies between the individual parameters. [ 9 ] It will only be possible to link information from the process, the product and the physical world perfectly once this challenge has been solved. In the mixing process, traceability is currently only possible for batch processes by attaching radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or tracking codes to the slurry containers.…”