EnSuRe

Development of a sustainable aluminium/FRP hybrid battery box concept

The goal of EnSuRe is to design a sustainable battery housing while still meeting the high requirements stipulated towards battery housings, for example regarding crash safety and thermal management. The project has started in April 2023 and has a duration of 3 years. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

The project will follow a holistic approach to reduce environmental impact from “cradle to grave”, starting with the production and also considering the use phase and the end of life state and recycling. The aim at ika is to develop a concept for a lightweight battery housing with sustainable materials. In addition, the battery housing will follow a design for recycling approach. Therefore, waste can be avoided by allowing an easy separation of the battery housing structures during recycling. Apart from designing the battery housing, ika will also investigate the concept from a structural point of view by the means of finite element simulations. Furthermore, the environmental impact of the battery housing will be assessed at ika and the impact will be compared to current state-of-the-art battery housing solutions.

During the project runtime, CTP and SGL will develop a bio-based matrix for composite material applications, suitable for the use in the automotive industry. To further reduce environmental impact, the matrix shall be able to separate from the fibers during recycling and therefore reusing the fibers. To reduce the use of energy intensive primary aluminum, Nemak will evaluate the use of secondary aluminum in the battery housing, including crash relevant structures. At LWF suitable joining technology including disjoining and debonding strategies will be developed. Besides overcoming the challenges associated with joining different and innovative materials as well as ensuring a leak tightness, the chosen joining technologies will also have to fulfill the design for recycling approach.

The project EnSuRe continues ika’s strategy to develop sustainable, lightweight solutions for future mobility. With prior projects regarding the design and development of battery housings ika has the necessary knowledge to tackle the future-oriented tasks of EnSuRe.