I. Introduction
The ongoing development and raising demand of electric vehicles passes improvement pressure on corresponding manufacturing technologies. One major production step of electric machines consists in establishing mechanical and electrical connections between cables and lugs. In this context, one main technology is the thermo-crimping process, which combines the regular crimping technology with a heat-related skinning process to remove the insulation of copper wires in the fusion process (see Fig. 1). In previous research, the crimping process was analyzed regarding energy efficiency, influence of electrode materials and methods for evaluating the joint quality [1], [2]. Due to high mechanical and thermal stress on the deployed electrodes, strong tool wear is one major drawback of this technology. However. consistent tool shapes are essential for providing durable and reliable connections. So far, ensuring joint quality and determining electrode substitute intervals were based on tacit expert knowledge. When it comes to aspects of process control, resistance measurement is currently the primary method for quality control regarding the connection of cables and corresponding lugs. This evaluation of the connection quality is time consuming, since it requires additional handling and measuring processes.
Thermo-crimping process in the context of electric drives production