Simulation boosts battery manufacturing performance

The Simcenter Amesim multiphysics simulation environment and it's SIMATIC Converting Toolbox have helped HIRANO TECSEED develop a better understanding of the company’s coating processes, resulting in better quality, less waste, and improved process and operator performance.

Improving a sensitive process with simulation

Coating electrode foils for batteries is a delicate process: the film needs to be wound off the feed roll, coated, dried, and rewound with perfectly controlled speed and tension. Any deviation in those parameters can lead to defects in the coating and product. In the test machine, a multiphysics simulation using Simcenter Amesim can analyze web tension behavior in every machine segment and in any operation mode. This allows HIRANO TECSEED to optimize the web handling process and predict potential web breakage as well as product defects – all without the need to physically operate a real machine.

A coating machine in a HIRANO TECSEED production site

Key benefits

Two workers using the operating panel on a machine.

Gain an overview of the complete process

The simulation calculates web tension and speed for all web segments, even for areas with no installed sensors. This significantly improves the level of detail, as sensors can be installed only at select points in the process.

Work with an 80% preconfigured simulation

The converting library greatly facilitates model creation, as up to 80 % of the simulation can be built using preconfigured standard function blocks, resulting in shorter implementation times and lower costs.

Test five times faster

New material or new machine parameters can now be evaluated five times faster. Tests can be set up in less than 15 minutes in the virtual environment, compared to one to two hours on a physical machine.

Promoting the digital transformation of battery manufacturing

The coating and lamination equipment developed and manufactured by the Japanese machine engineering specialist HIRANO TECSEED Co. Ltd. is used in many applications, ranging from adhesive tape to electronic devices such as liquid crystal panel displays and electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. The company aims to become the global leader in coating machines and is continuously evaluating new technologies and strategies to improve its processes and operations. To reduce time to market and improve process reliability and performance, HIRANO TECSEED has partnered with Siemens in the standardization and digitalization of battery manufacturing equipment. This collaboration includes the creation of a digital twin of the battery manufacturing equipment. The first milestone in the digitalization journey was implementing an advanced machine simulation solution that combines the multiphysics simulation of a coating laboratory machine with domain know-how and expertise in automating production machines from Siemens. The result is a holistic simulation of web handling, mechatronics, and automation simulation in one modeling environment.

Reducing costs and commissioning time with simulation

Simcenter Amesim is a multiphysics simulation environment for a wide range of mechatronic systems that includes a dedicated converting library for analyzing the continuous web process in converting machines. This enables engineers to analyze machine operating variables such as web strain, tension, and speed in each web section of the machine, which was the use case for the laboratory machine at HIRANO TECSEED. The simulation derives the web behavior from model parameters acquired from the laboratory machine’s automation and drive solution as well as the design of the web handling system. The simulation results are displayed using a 3D animation of the machine, with each web segment colored according to the value of the web tension, allowing development engineers to quickly evaluate changes in the operating conditions, the machine’s design parameters, and the material parameters, even in areas where no physical sensors are available. These virtual studies enable the engineers to optimize the machine’s throughput and to predict potential web breakage as well as product defects. Parameter settings or new materials can be evaluated without having to operate the physical machine or build prototypes, which reduces costs in machine engineering as well as significantly speeding up commissioning times – a huge benefit in the fast-growing battery market.

Zoomed Screenshot of a 3D visualization of a coating machine

The results of the simulation model are highly accurate, and the visualization helps us better understand the underlying process.

N. Vansh, Research and Development Engineer, HIRANO TECSEED Co. Ltd.

Aligning the digital and physical worlds

The advanced simulation and modeling solution is only half of the innovative machine design that HIRANO TECSEED has implemented. The laboratory machine also features an automation solution that uses a SIMATIC S7-1500 PLC, SINAMICS S120 drives, and a SIMATIC Unified Comfort Panel. The SIMATIC Converting Toolbox, which contains a set of libraries with preconfigured software functions and applications for production machines using continuous material web, greatly facilitates the engineering process. The seamless integration of all components ensures that HIRANO TECSEED’s production machines can operate with a high level of productivity. The integrated motion control features provide excellent control performance and precision, which is especially beneficial with respect to critical parameters such as web speed and web tension. This also helps HIRANO TECSEED translate the results of the virtual simulation and optimization into physical benefits.

Thanks to our collaboration with Siemens and their team’s expertise in automation and digitalization, we were able to take our converting and web handling systems to the next level.

Katsuhiro Omori, Director and Executive Officer, HIRANO TECSEED Co. Ltd.