One of the major hurdles in Electric Vehicle (EV) adoption is the **high cost**, partly from the **lack of flexibility/reconfigurability in battery pack production**. To tackle this, **Soni-Shape-Laser** **aims to offer an optimised commercial solution with a novel approach to laser welding 6xxx aluminium, commonly used in battery casings**. We're committed to advancing the UK supply chain and existing technologies for customised battery packs through flexible manufacturing. A vital component is the casing, designed for robust integration and safety in crash protection and thermal events. Supported by this grant, our laser welding technology aims to promote **flexibility/fast reconfigurability in battery pack production,** achieving efficient manufacturability, and a viable modular/scalable pack design. To address challenges associated to limited manufacturing flexibility/reconfigurability, Soni-Shape-Laser incorporates advanced technologies such as Power-Ultrasonic Vibration Treatment (PUVT) and free-form beam shaping. Useful for working with 6xxx aluminium alloys, known for high crack sensitivity, the integration of these technologies set a new industry benchmark and transition from wire-fed to a fully remote and autogenous (no wire) laser welding for hermetically sealed joining of battery casings. Soni-Shape-Laser will demonstrate at least a 20% increase in productivity, 50% fast changeovers with enhanced flexibility/reconfigurability, improved access to confined welding areas, 15% weight saving enabled by more intense use of aluminium, and 20% energy/cost saving and reduced emissions. Leveraging the consortium's deep expertise and proven success in relevant projects such as UltraMAT, Soni-Laser, LIBERATE and ALIVE, Soni-Shape-Laser is uniquely positioned to commercialise this cutting-edge technology. It aims to play a pivotal role in the global transition to electric mobility and carbon emission reduction. Soni-Shape-Laser is committed to fostering **social impact through job retention/future creation, skillset development and facilitating specialised training programs, to upskill the workforce,** paving the way for broader, sustainable industry adoption of these advanced technologies.

EV sales will reach 44 million vehicles per year by 2030 with many European countries, including the UK, aiming at zero emissions within the next 30 years. Therefore, there is an increasing need for manufacturing of battery packs to meet demand and whilst Asia remains the stronghold (projected to reach 800GWh by 2025), Europe is expanding rapidly with a projected production capacity of 450GWh/year by 2030\. Laser welding has emerged as the optimal welding technique to respond to the increasing demand for EV battery manufacturing, being 4-5 times faster than the current welding processes. While laser welding is well suited to the increasing manufacturing demand and the joining needs of the battery pack assembly, challenges to its application in this industry remain. Typically, a standard battery pack consists of hundreds, even thousands, of individual cells which are connected to deliver the required power and capacity. Making the required joints represent several metallurgical challenges, including, joining of multiple dissimilar materials of varying thicknesses. The differences in thermal, physical, and chemical properties between dissimilar materials pose a series of challenges that must be addressed before widespread application of laser welding can be realised in the battery manufacturing sector. The low miscibility between dissimilar materials leads to a poor weld metallurgical compatibility, which is further exacerbated by large differences in thermophysical properties. Hot cracks, porosity, incomplete fusion, and other defects are usually introduced. A variety of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) can also form within the weld zone during solidification of dissimilar joints. The formation of such hard and brittle IMCs can severely deteriorate the mechanical properties of the welded joints. Controlling the formation of intermetallic compounds and their thickness, minimising weld defects has become a prominent research topic in the battery manufacturing/assembly industry. SoniLaser will offer a ground-breaking solution for the EV battery manufacturing sector through the integration of a power ultrasonic vibration subsystem to assist the laser welding process of various parts of the battery. Consortium partners have previously demonstrated that applying a power ultrasonic vibration during the laser welding process, can induce a 25% reduction in weld defects (pores, cracks) and 30% mitigation of IMCs leading to at least 10% increase in mechanical strength of the welded joints. SoniLaser will be provided as a retrofittable bespoke solution, customised to the laser welding equipment of each client and to each production line segment, increasing their current speeds more than 50%.

The project goal is a novel generic technology (UltraMAT) for materials processing of fluid and semi fluid phases that are widespread in manufacturing e.g. in the welding and adhesive joining of components, the manufacture of bulk composite components and in traditional, PM (HIP) and semi solid casting. The key purpose of UltraMAT is to enable production of manufactured components with step improvements in specific strength (yield/ fatigue/ impact) and modulus, fatigue life and thus lightweighting; driven by economic and environmental needs to reduce energy consumption and emissions in manufacture and transport. The enabling tool is power ultrasound with purpose shaped force fields for controlled movement and size creation of uniform nano structures to enable: (1) Production of homogeneously distributed and shaped nanoscale particulates, fibres or grains). (2) Enhancement of interlayer and filler-matrix adhesion bonds.UltraMAT will be validated through the fabrication and testing of samples of a number of key structure/joint types of growing importance especially in aerospace or automotive bodies/engines: (i) Ti/Al fibre laminates (ii) Ti/Al metal matrix composites with fibre/ particulate (ceramic TiC/SiC), Ti/Al laser welding and (iv) Al semi solid casting. Homogenisation performance will be studied using graphene (G) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) because the strong agglomeration tendencies of G and NT is impeding their ability to realise commercially, components of ultra high specific strength. In short pulse echo mode, UltraMAT will self evaluate its performance on line aided by predictive big analytics.