Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds

Tony Schröer, Jeff R.Snell

Digatron / Firing Circuits

One of the more critical processes in battery manufacturing is the inter-cell weld. At the
same time inconsistencies in lead material and less than reliable testing methods
complicate process control and verification efforts. Time proven methods to verify welds
such as X-ray, Gamma ray and ultrasonic testing are either not suited for lead welds or
impractical when considering the production environment. Only electrical tests are suited
for 100% production lot testing of inter-cell welds.

This paper attempts to highlight the weaknesses inherent in traditional electrical testing
methods when using a tester integrated with the inter-cell welding machine.
Unimpeachable data regarding the quality of inter-cell welds cannot be achieved using
traditional electrical test methods.

More reliable results can be obtained with an improved measurement system, which is
separate and installed after the inter-cell welding machine. An optimized inter-cell test
process and measurement techniques are discussed.

1. Introduction This intercell weld is one of the more

critical and difficult processes used in
To achieve a battery voltage of 12V, six manufacturing batteries. Thousands of
cells must be connected in series. batteries are destined for scrap if any
Connections from cell to cell for one of the six intercell welds per battery
automotive batteries are made within the (Fig.2) does not fulfill the specifications.
polypropylene container through holes
punched in the partitions. The positive -
strap terminal on one side and the
negative strap terminal on the other side
of the hole are pressed together and
welded (Fig.1).

Fig.2: Automotive Battery

The following will focus on the

resistance welding process of lead,
Fig.1: Positive and Negative Strap Terminal specifically lead-alloys.

Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds -1-

There is very little literature available
which discusses the behavior of lead
materials when welded. What literature
exists, only considers welding by open
flame.

There are two reasons for the limited

literature about lead welding:

- Only the battery industry employs the

process of welding lead to Fig.3: Two-Phase-Diagramm
manufacture it products

- Lead welding is one of the most
difficult processes to control. It
requires control of several variables
to achieve reliable results.
Over the past decades the welding
process have been more focused on
improving efficiency. It may not be
practical to eliminate all subtle material
and process variations.
In some cases this leck of process
control may result in marginal intercell
connections which could lead to battery
failure.
Why is it difficult to weld lead?
Instead of pure lead (Pb), lead-antimony
(PbSb) alloy is used to increase the
hardness of lead. But properties and
particulary mechanical properties of low
antimony alloys do vary and depend
mainly on material history
Lead is a very soft metal with a relatively
low melting point at 327 deg.C
With respect to the resistance welding
process the melting point can be
controlled by an appropriate amount of
energy. But the control range is small
and if the energy applied, slightly
exceeds the maximum limit lead
becomes liquid and will squirt out.
Another important parameter is the
hardness.
One cannot state the general hardness
of a lead-antimony alloy. The rate of
hardening depends on the cooling
process and the percentage content of
antimony.
Fig.4 shows hardness versus age.

Fig.3 to fig.6 will reflect the

characteristics of lead-antimony alloy
with 3% antimony.
Fig.4: Hardness vs. Age

Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds -2-

It is obvious that newly casted lead
behaves somewhat differently than lead
which was stored. Newly casted lead is
very soft and can be easily formed
together. Stored lead – roughly speaking
one day or more – is brittle and breaks
with even minor deformation.
Usually welding machines receive newly
casted lead without the necessary
hardness. The welding clamps will pinch
the two cast on strap flanges and just
the force of the clamps will join the parts
and create an electroconductive
junction.
Even though welding in this state is
possible the process energy must be
increased to compensate for the low
resistance junction. It is possible to
conduct the welding procedure without
welding the material. And the internal
resistance measurement will display
values within the limits and will let the
battery pass.
The electrical resistance curve (Fig.5)
typically shows the highest gradient at
the melting point.
Although most welding machines ensure
rapid cooling after the high current
welding process the electrical resistance
may vary significantly due to the
temperature gradient.
Fig.5: Electrical Resistance vs. Temperature
Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds
As a result internal resistance
measurement systems can only be used
to compare resistance data within a
production batch and do not accurately
measure the real resistances of the
intercell welds.
The Oxidation curve (Fig.6) indicates
that oxidation begins immediately after
contact with air. Once a thin oxidation
layer has been developed further
oxidation is inhibited. The film has an
isolating property.
In accordance with equation
d=m/OxV where
m = oxidation [mg],
O = 5400 mm2 and
v = 0.252 mm3/g
in our test a thin film of about 0.4µm to
0.6µm was developed after a few
minutes.
Fig.6: Oxidation vs. Age
Any measurement system whether
integrated or separate from the welding
machine should have probes which
break through the oxidation layer to
ensure accurate measurement.
All these variables make it very difficult
to control the welding process for lead
alloys and to consistantly produce
quality welds.
-3-
Despite these issues the battery industry
has proven that lead welding is possible.
Todays welding machines consist of two
hydraulic clamps for interconnection 1,
3, 5 and interconnection 2 and 4.
These clamps are positioned by
automated x/y-positioning systems [1].
Power electronics are used to provide
welding currents in kA range using
programmable controllers and a PLC is
used to control the conveyor station and
to position the battery underneath the
clamps.
Fig.7 shows details of the welding
clamps.
The voltage sense connection provides
the feedback for current control and also
detects the initial contact made with the
parent material.
It is important to control the time
between inital contact with the parent
material and the start of the welding
process. This time period determines
the size of the contact area and the
initial contact resistance prior to welding.
Because this pause time is so critical
special contact detection modules are
used to precisely measure initial contact.
Fig.8: Projection Forming
Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds
Contact detection
via voltage
measurement
Water cooling
Weld electrodes
with projection
forming tools
(thrust adapter)
Fig.7: Welding Clamp Details
Fig.8 shows the strap connections
before and after projection. If the initial
contact area is too small the resistance
will be too high and the welding process
will generate too much heat, causing
lead, to squirt out at the beginning of the
welding process.
If the initial contact area is too large a
very low resistance electroconductive
junction will result. This will always
create a condition for cold welds.
Strap position before
forming of the projection
… and after projection forming
-4-
The entire welding sequence (Fig.9) will
be explained in the following.
Fig.9: Welding Sequence
When the battery is positioned, the
clamp contacts the strap terminal and
closes the projection forming electrodes
(phase 1).
Phase 2 starts with a signal from the
contact detection module. If the
programmed pause time (phase 2) is
complete, the weld current starts (phase
3). Current amplitude and current time
are controlled by the welding controller.
The lead will melt and due to pressure
applied to the strap terminals the
material will be pressed through and fill
the partition hole.
In phase 4 the hold time allows the lead
to cool (phase 4).
After the hold time the clamps will open
and the contact detection module
indicates the end of the welding process
(phase 5)
Dynamic regulation is required to control
weld energy and particulary weld
current. As a result switched mode
power supplies are typically used in
modern welding machines.
Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds
Fig.10: 1000 Hz MF-DC Inverter Power Unit
Fig.10 shows the principle schematic of
a 1000Hz DC inverter power module
using pulse-width-modulation.
The 3-phase AC signal is rectified to
provide a DC link voltage for the IGBT
inverter. The IGBT inverter is controlled
by 1kHz frequency and provides 0.5 ms
control cycle. The welding transformer
generates the high current output and
after rectification by the two diodes a
true DC signal is applied across the
welding electrodes.
Even considering the equipment and
process improvements developed over
the recent years there remains
significant variation in both, process and
materials which can result in
substandard welds.
As difficult it is to weld lead, it is more
difficult to verify lead welds.
The next pages will investigate and
analyse existing methods of quality
inspection for weld processes for use in
battery assembly lines.
-5-
2. Experimentals

Methods used in the industry to verify

welds are:

X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, Ultrasonic,

Electric Inspection such as
Resistance Measurement or
Resistance vs. Welding Time and
Destructive Inspection.
Fig.12: Twist off tool kit with torque display

Strap terminals are twisted off using a

2.1 Destructive Inspection
torque wrench to measure the maximum
torque value prior to failure (Fig.12). It is
assumed that the welding quality
correlates to the torque value.

Fig.13 shows torque data, deviation and

distribution of 28 samples

Fig.11: Adapter to prepare sample weldings

Destructive testing of welds is performed

on a periodic or sample from a lot
bases. The results can be used to adjust
the intercell welding machine. Fig.13: Production lot test results

A special adapter is used to produce

weld samples to avoid wasting entire
cell packages (Fig.11).
Another criteria to verify the welding
A fixture keep the strap terminals in the process is optical inspection.
right position for welding. There are
cavities in the upper platform to position
the terminals. Different battery sizes can
be accommodated by the same fixture
using the telescope.

After welding the operator lowers the

upper platform to get access to the strap
terminals.
Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds -6-
Destructive Inspection, optical evaluation

Fig.14: Ideal Welding Fig.15: Corona welding Fig.16: Blow holes

Defective areas can be seen clearly as displayed in figures 15 and 16

2.2 Non-Destructive Inspections Unlike X-Rays or Gamma-Rays,

There are several non-destructive
inspection methods typically used in the
industry.
Ultrasonic waves accurately detect the
smallest of air gaps, which create an
unbridgable barriers completely
reflecting signals.

As a result the high degree of

absorption, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray
cannot be used for inspection of lead
welds. The reason is the attenuation
effect whereby the atomic number is
cubing and multplied by the density of
the material in question. As a result the
degree of absorption for lead is much
higher when compared to other metals.
It is technically inpossible to use X-Ray
or Gamma-Ray to find irregularities in
the intercell welds.
Fig. 17: Ultrasonic inspection,
pause time too short

Ultrasonic inspection would be an Fig.17 shows an ultrasonic image of an

ideal method to determine irregularities
in intercell welds. The main advantage is
the straight-lined propagation of
ultrasonic waves through the medium
and very good diffusion [2]. In this
regard ultrasonic waves are comparable
to X-Rays or Gamma-Rays.
intercell weld where the pause time was
too short.
One can see in the image that there is
no coherent area of welding. It is
assumed that blow holes have been
generated.

Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds -7-

In general blow holes will be generated
if there is too little material available.
This will be the case when pause times
are too short and when the welding
process starts immediately after the two
terminals are in contact with each other.
Fig.19 shows the result if the welding
current is too high. The lead squirts out
and leaves blow holes.
Welding current below the minimum
required will result in an incomplete and
poor quality weld.

Fig.18: Ultrasonic inspection,

pause time too long

If the pause time is too long the material Fig.20: Ultrasonic inspection,
will develop an electroconductive welding current too low
junction and the resistance will be too
low to produce the necessary welding
temperature. Fig.18 shows a corona In Fig.20 it can be seen that the areas at
welding at 1000 ms pause time. 1, 4 and 7 o‘ clock are not welded
properly.
The next two figures will show the
results when varying the welding
current.

Fig.19: Ultrasonic inspection, Fig.21: Ultrasonic inspection,

welding current too high welding current with ramp
Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds -8-
Fig.21 shows a substantial result.

Whenever current ramps were used

better quality welds resulted.

The major advantage of a current ramp

is the preliminary warming of lead which
will create uniform material and process
conditions. Thus the influence of
material hardness can be minimized.

The current time was set to 240 ms

whereas 180 ms were programmed as a
ramp.
Fig.23: Ultrasonic inspection,
current time too short

The next figures show the variation of

current time.
If the current time is too short the weld is
incomplete. Fig.23 shows welded
material in the center only. Outside the
center the weld is very shallow.

The next figures will show the

importance of correct pressure when
welding the strap terminals

Fig.22: Ultrasonic inspection,

current time too long

If the current time is too long the energy

applied to the weld will be too high and
material will squirt out. After coagulation
blow holes and hair line fractures will be
found. As it can be seen in Fig.22 only a
small area between 11 and 12 o‘clock is
welded.

Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds -9-

Fig.24: Ultrasonic Inspection, Fig.25: Ultrasonic Inspection,
pressure 2.5 kN
Fig.24 to 26 show results generated at
2.5 kN, 3.8 kN and 4.7 kN.
Too little pressure will not create the
desired electroconductive junction,
where resistance is low enough so as
not to produce excess heat.
The lead will squirt out and will leave
intercell welds with blow holes (Fig.24).
Beyond a certain force applied, the
results will be consistant with Fig.25 and
Fig.26. This supports the theory that
increasing pressure should be applied
up to that point just before structual
damage to the partition or hole might
occur.
The ultrasonic inspection of intercell
welds yields significant and
reproducable results without damaging
the test object.
But problems occur with regard to the
testheads used to transmit and receive
ultrasonic signals. Testheads are only
available for larger objects. The space
required to properly position a testhead
is not available. Another problem is to
Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds
Fig.26: Ultrasonic Inspection,
pressure 3.8 kN pressure 4.7 kN
establish a good ultrasonic junction
between the testhead and the intercell
weld.
In typical applications water, grease or
oil are used as a transfer medium to
achieve the necessary contact. It is
difficult to believe that this could be
implemented in an assembly line for
batteries.
Beyond destructive inspection
techniques, electrical testing is the only
suitable method to verify intercell welds,
in production environments.
Several battery manufacturers have
implemented two tests:
The first using a tester integrated into
the cell welding machine and also the
second test after the battery has left the
intercell welding machine.
In the following the advantages and
disadvantages of both systems will be
discussed.
- 10 -
 The internal microprocessor calculates
Voltage sense
the resistance which - at this stage –
V does not represent the resistance of the
intercell welds. First, the parasitic
resistances must be eliminated from the
Intercell weld
calculation.

Parasitic resistances are:

Welding current

Fig.27:4-Wire Current-Voltage Measurement - electrode resistance

- contact resistance
- resistance of the lead material
The general principle is shown in Fig.27.

The principle is based on the 4-wire

current-voltage measurement. A power
source will provide constant current to
the test object and voltage will be
measured across the test object. A high
impedance voltage input is required to R1: electrode resistance
measure voltages in the microvolt range. R3: contact resistance
The microprocessor will then calculate
the resistance. R6: material resistance

R5: contact resistance

R7: material resistance

R4: contact resistance

R2: electrode resistance

Fig.29: Parasitic Resistances

Voltage sense

Fig.28: General Assembly V

of a Welding Clamp

R1 R3 R6 R5 R7 R4 R2

The general assembly of a welding Welding current

clamp is shown in Fig.28. Fig.30: Real Resistance Model

The voltage sense leads are connected
to the clamps. After the welding process
and a cool down period an additional
measurement current is programmed to The real resistance model of the
pick up the voltage drop across the integrated resistance measurement is
clamps. shown in Fig. 30.

Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds - 11 -

Some machines measure the offset
resistance and store this result for use
as a compensating value when
calculating the intercell resistance.
However in production conditions the
offset resistance may increase over time
due to contamination that accumulates
on the contact surfaces of the thrust
adapter (Fig.31).
cleaning cleaning
Fig.31: Contamination of Thrust Adapter
Contamination of the thrust adapter will
result in increased resistance between
the electrode and the lead material
because of a layer of contamination
accumulates between the electrode and
lead material acting as an insulator.
Additional heat will be generated at the
electrode/thrust adapter, not at the lead
material. Therefore this heat will not
contribute to the welding process.
Heat and high pressure join to create a
thin lead film on the upper thrust
adapter. Any accumulation of lead will
tend to accelerate this plating process.
Poor intercell welds will result.
It is necessary to periodically clean the
surface of the thrust adapter to ensure a
consistant welding process.
Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds
The parasitic resistances mentioned on
the previous pages will form the major
part of the total resistance. Irregularities
in the intercell weld will not represent a
significant portion of the total resistance
and will typically be within the tolerance
band.
Another fact to be considered is the
resistance measurement takes place
when the the test object is subjected to
pressure from the welding clamp. Since
lead is a soft metal the pressure applied
is capable of creating a low resistance
elctroconductive junction even without
welding. Experiments confirmed that
resistances of both welded and
unwelded strap terminals can be within
the tolerance band when using a
clamping pressure of above 3.5kN.
Subsequently the integrated resistance
measurement can only be used as
comparative data. It does not reflect the
real resistance of the intercell weld.
Another option would be to measure and
record resistance during the welding
process. This is commonly done when
welding steel or sheet metal [3].
Fig.32: Master resistance curve for steel and
sheet metal welding
- 12 -
Welding steel and sheet metal master The results of all the records are shown
curves are used to control the welding in Fig.34.
process.

The first part of the curve should be

ignored as the data will vary significantly
depending on material conditions under
pressure.

The important part of the curve is the

shaded area. This area indicates the
acceptable limits of time and resistance
that will result in an appropriate level of
energy applied to the weld.

The question is:

Can this control method be used for lead
welding as well?
Fig.34: Intercell Weld Resistance Curves
To answer the question 3000 curves (yellow curve)
have been recorded.

The resistance curves for lead are

almost constant throughout the process.
There is no significant event during the
process that could surve as a direct or
indirect indicator of a good or bad weld.

Table 1 shows the deviations in voltage,

current and resistance as measured
during welding of 3.000 samples.

Fig.33: Expected Resistance Curve

Process 0.01s 0,02s 0.09s 0.17s
time

The typical resistance curve is a Voltage +/- 12% +/- 10% +/- 5% +/- 5%
combination of contact resistance and deviation
material resistance vs. welding time. At
the very beginning in the welding Current +/- 5.9% +/- 5% +/- 5% +/- 5%
deviation
process contact resistance will be very
high generating heat up to the melting Resistance +/- 9.3% +/- 8.2% +/- 5% +/- 5%
point of the lead material. Contact deviation
resistance will decrease, as material
resistance increases due to rising Table 1: Deviation of voltage, current and
temperatures(Fig.33). resistance

Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds - 13 -

The flat resistance curve can be
explained by two variables which tend to
compensate for each other: Although
the resistance of lead increases with
higher temperatures, resistance also
decreases as the distance between the
electrodes is reduced.
3. Results
3.1 Integrated Resistance Measurement
To summarize the investigation of the
integrated resistance measurement one
can say the advantages are:
- High pressure contact allows for high
test currents which generate higher
voltages across the clamps improving
signal to noise ratio measurement.
- No additional equipment investment is
required
The disadvantages are:
- Resistance measurement takes place
when the test object is subjected to
pressure from the welding clamp. Since
lead is a soft metal the pressure applied
is capable of creating a low resistance
elctroconductive junction even without
welding
- No real 4-wire measurement. Parasitic
resistances will form the major part of
the total resistance. Irregularities in the
intercell weld will not represent a
significant portion of the total resistance
and will typically be within the tolerance
band
Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds
The integrated resistance measurement
system cannot reliably determine the
quality of strap terminal welds. In
addition this method will not differentiate
between welded and non welded strap
terminals. It should only be used to
capture possible trend data such as the
resistance increase due to
contamination
3.2 Separate Resistance Measurement
To measure the strap terminal
resistance more accurately a separate
system is required. This system ensures
real 4-wire measurement (Fig.35).
Fig.35: Separate Resistance Measurement
Contact is made by two current probes
and two voltage sense probes. The
current probes are spring-loaded to
ensure safe contact. However, unlike
the integrated resistance measurement
system, this method does not clamp the
terminals together. In contrast the
probes apply force in the opposit
direction attempting to separate a poor
weld.
- 14 -
The voltage probes are also spring-
loaded and have tapered contacts which
penetrate the oxyd film layer to
accurately measure voltages.

Five of these contact couples are

connected in series assembled in one
common testhead.

The machine interface should allow fast

change over of testheads to adapt to
any battery type. Fig.37: Effective Welded Area 104 mm2

The maximum current is limited by the

design of the spring-loaded current
probes.

Fig.38: Effective Welded Area 145 mm2

Fig.36: Testhead of Separate Resistance
Measurement

Tests were conducted to determine the

optimum current amplitude required to
generate significant variation in
measured resistance which then
correlates to percentage completeness
of welds.

Welded terminals were modified by

Fig.39: Effective Welded Area 245 mm2
drilling holes of increasing diameter
through the weld nuggets.

It is clear that test currents well in

excess of 100A are required for
meaningful results (figures 37 to 39).

Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds - 15 -

Unimpeachable data regarding the In general the addition of a separate
quality of intercell welds cannot be Welding Resistance Tester would be an
achieved using the integrated electrical enhancement to any battery assembling
resistance measurement line.

Digatron / Firing Circuits has literature

More accurate results can be obtained available describing the Welding
with an improved measurement system, Resistance Tester Product. Please
which is separate and installed after the contact info@digatron.de or
intercell welding machine info@firing-circuits.com

References:

[1] Oliver Roehl, Bielomatik Leuze GmbH + Co; Intercell Welding Machines
August 2004

[2] Burghard Danch, Study of the Intercell Welding process,

October 1993

[3] Matuschek Messtechnik GmbH, Adaptive Control for Resistance Welding

in the Automotive Industry,
August 2001

Testing and Verification of Intercell Welds - 16 -