Cross-Directional Modelling and Control of Slot-Die Battery Electrode Coating

TL;DR

This paper presents a physics-based modelling and control pipeline for real-time regulation of film thickness in slot-die battery electrode coating, aiming to improve manufacturing precision and automation.

Contribution

It introduces a low-order cross-directional model calibrated with CFD data and a controller suitable for both real-time feedback and manual operation.

Findings

Close agreement between CFD and the low-order model

Effective control design for real-time regulation

Potential for automation in electrode coating process

Abstract

As global battery demand increases, real-time process control becomes increasingly important for battery electrode manufacturing, yet slot-die lines are still mostly manually operated in open loop. This paper develops a physics-based modelling-and-control pipeline for film-thickness regulation. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations provide the data from which a low-order cross-directional model is identified and calibrated. Numerical simulations demonstrate close agreement between the CFD and the cross-directional model, which is used to design a controller that can be used in both real-time, automated feedback operation and manual feedforward operation during line commissioning.