Multi-Layered Numerical Model Development of a Standard Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Battery for the Impact Test

Abstract

For safety issues in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), international standards and regulations for various abusive environments have been developed, and UL1642 in Underwriters Laboratories (UL) currently covers electrical, mechanical, environmental, and fire exposure tests. An impact test is one of mechanical abuse tests in UL1642, which aims to determine the safe prevention of fire or explosion. As the energy density of a lithium-ion battery is continuously increasing, it is difficult to pass the regulation. Therefore, it is necessary to predict failure mode due to an internal short circuit in developing high-capacity cells. For a sudden and measured mechanical force, we speculate that damage to a separator consisting of LIBs makes the battery experience an exothermic phenomenon due to an internal short circuit because a separator is a key component for preventing the electrical contact between two electrodes. Therefore, if we can find mechanical stresses of each component in LIBs, we can evaluate whether each component is severely damaged or not. In the present study, we propose a finite element model consisting of a multi-layered structure, which will permit us to assess the possible onset location of the short circuit, and to predict the sequence of failure at a cell level. We applied the proposed method to a cylindrical cell, and the accuracy of the model was verified through the comparison of the experiment results. Additionally, simulation results showed that it is possible to track mechanical stress variations of each component progressively. Furthermore, we performed the numerical experiment evaluating the thickness effect of a center-pin. We expect the proposed finite element model to be used in order to devise cell level abuse-tolerant design from a mechanical point of view before conducting mechanical abuse tests as part of the product development process.