Design and Optimization of Lightweight Lithium-Ion Battery Protector with 3D Auxetic Meta Structures

Abstract

This research study involves designing and optimizing a sandwich structure based on an auxetic structure to protect the pouch battery system for electric vehicles undergoing ground impact load. The core of the sandwich structure is filled with the auxetic structure that has gone through optimization to maximize the specific energy absorbed. Its performance is analyzed with the non-linear finite element method. Five geometrical variables of the auxetic structures are analyzed using the analysis of variance and optimized using Taguchi’s method. The optimum control variables are double-U hierarchal (DUH), the cross-section’s thickness = 2 mm, the length of the cell = 10 mm, the width of the cell = 17 mm, and the bending height = 3 mm. The optimized geometries are then arranged into three different sandwich structure configurations. The core is filled with optimized DUH cells that have been enlarged to 200% in length, arranged in 11 × 11 × 1 cells, resulting in a total dimension and mass of 189 × 189 × 12 mm and 0.75 Kg. The optimized sandwich structure shows that the pouch battery cells can be protected very well from ground impact load with a maximum deformation of 1.92 mm, below the deformation threshold for battery failure.