Sealing of EV Battery Housings

Customized and Fully Automatic Material / Machine System Solutions to Securely Seal Ev Battery Housings

As the e-mobility market continues to grow and expand, the demand for lightweight batteries with a longer driving range and shorter charging times has also increased. To prolong the life of these innovative batteries and improve reliability and safety, the battery housing must be properly sealed to protect against vibration and extreme environmental conditions.

With its Sonderhoff brand, Henkel has many years of experience in sealing battery housings. As process experts, we ensure a perfect interaction between our dispensing technology and the sealing system selected from our product portfolio.

As a manufacturer of sealing systems, mixing and dosing machines, and process experts for material application with FIPFG technology, we combine high quality materials and engineering expertise.

Using FIPFG technology (Formed-In-Place-Foam-Gasket), you can benefit from the advantages of efficient, process-stable application processes and ensuring high quality and reliable component sealing. Our product portfolio includes special sealing foams that can be processed quickly and enable higher production output.

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Sealing Electric Vehicle Battery Housings

In this video you will learn how the battery housing of an electric car is fully automatically and seamlessly sealed using 2K polyurethane sealing foam FERMAPOR K31 and our FIPFG technology. Due to unique characteristics of the foam seal, the housing can be opened and closed again at any time for maintenance purposes.

Customized Material Systems for Safely Sealing EV Battery Housings

Batteries for electrically powered vehicles are exposed to strong vibration and harsh environmental conditions. In order to ensure optimal battery performance, a perfect seal of the battery case and electrical insulation is required.

The polyurethane sealing foam from the Sonderhoff FERMAPOR K31 product family effectively and reliably seal the battery housings and protect the EV batteries from vibrations, thermal shock, moisture, dust, and corrosion, helping extend battery life.

The fast-reacting 2K polyurethane sealing foam FERMAPOR K31 A-7060-5-B / K31-B-N developed for sealing battery housings is tack-free after just 3.5 minutes at room temperature. Once the foam has reacted to create a seamless foam gasket, the cover can be placed on the housing and screwed on after just 35 minutes.

In addition to the polyurethane-based reference product, the 2K silicone sealing foam FERMASIL 40C2-1-UL-FR is an excellent alternative, as it has a significantly higher temperature resistance.

Our sealing foams can be applied to 2D or 3D components, with and without a groove. Additionally, they have low water absorption and good adhesion to steel, cast iron, aluminum, and plastics (some with pretreatment).

In addition to the reference products, we develop material systems according to your individual requirements. For example, we offer low-emission polyurethane foams with low VOC values (volatile organic compounds), sealing foams with flame retardancy per UL 94 HF-1, and potting products compliant to UL 94 V-0, as well as foamed adhesive sealants that use up to 50% less material.

With all our solutions, the focus is on providing exceptionally reliable system technology, a stable process, minimized maintenance times and consistently high dosing quality.

Reference Material

Our reference materials shown below, the 2K polyurethane sealing foams meet the standard requirements of battery housings. Additionally, we offer customizable seals according to your part specifications and special technical demands. Henkel's sealing foams can be adjusted in their reactivity, hardness, viscosity as well as color, and other chemical and physical properties.

	FERMAPOR K31-A-7060-5-B FERMAPOR K31-B-N	FERMASIL A-40C2-1-UL-FR FERMASIL B-40C2-1-UL-FR
Mixing ratio	6.4 : 1	1 : 1
Pot life	30 sec.	50 sec.
Tack-free time	3.5 min.	5.0 min
Viscosity A component	63,000 mPas	130,000 mPas
Foam density	0.23 g/cm³	0.26 g/cm³
Hardness (Shore 00)	60	40
Temperature resistance	from -40 to +80 °C	from -60 to +180 °C
Pretreatment	/	UL 94 V-o

Frequent Opening and Closing of Battery Housing for Maintenance Purposes Possible Without Deteriorating Seal Tightness

The good resetting ability of the foam seal allows the battery housing to be opened and closed again for maintenance purposes without the tightness of the seal deteriorating.

After the screw connection, the housing is tight, and the battery is protected against splashing water and the effects of the weather.

The unpressed foam seal before closing the housing.

When the battery housing cover is screwed on, the elastic cell structure of the foam seal is compressed. This provides the sealing function of the housing seal - the battery housing is tight.

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Repeatedly Opening and Reclosing for Maintenance Purposes with Remaining Sealing Effect

The high resilience of the foam seal allows the components to be opened and reclosed repeatedly for maintenance purposes without the tightness deteriorating. After installation, the third brake light is sealed, and the sensitive electronics are protected against splashing water and the effects of the weather.

Watch a video showing the foam compression process.

Cross-section of a polyurethane foam bead in the groove without compression.

Compressing the foam gasket between approximately 30 - 60 % of the original height achieves the required degree of tightness in the installed condition.

Application Process

Flexible and Fully Automatic Process - According to Your Requirements

An important success factor for the high-quality sealing of EV batteries is improving efficiency of the overall solution, and thus the optimal integration into your production. As process experts, we offer competent and innovative advice when it comes to automating your manufacturing processes.

We have numerous configuration and equipment options for semi- or fully automatic productions using both the 3-axis linear robots or 6-axis robots. We are also happy to develop an individual automation solution according to your specific requirements.

Mixing and Dosing System With Mixing Head Traversing Unit for Sealing Foam Application, and 6-Axis Robot for Parts Handling

As shown in the reference configuration below, the arm of the 6-axis robot grips the battery housing cover and moves it below the mixing head of the DM 502 mixing and dosing machine for precise dosing. The sealing foam application is precisely dosed and fully automatic with high repeat accuracy. This results in an elastic foam seal on the battery housing cover that hardens at room temperature.

The battery housing, with a foam-sealed cover contour, is mounted under the underbody of the vehicle. This compresses the foam seal and thus achieves the sealing function. Thanks to the automatic recording of the dispensing program data, all process data can be traced via the control panel while production is running and can also be evaluated later.

Mixing and Dosing System With 6-Axis Robot and Conveyor Belt for Parts Feed

In this scenario, the battery housing is fed to the DM 502 mixing and dosing system via a conveyor belt system at a defined cycle as shown in the reference configuration below. The 6-axis robot guides the mixing head precisely over the contour of the housing and automatically applies the polyurethane foam dose with high repeat accuracy.

This results in an elastic foam seal that hardens at room temperature on the housing contour. When the battery housing cover is screwed on, the elastic cell structure of the foam seal is compressed. This provides the sealing function of the housing seal– the battery housing is tight and can be installed in the vehicle underbody. Thanks to the automatic recording of the dispensing program data, all process data can be traced via the control panel while production is running and can also be evaluated later.

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