Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Mechanically Induced Failure in Electric Vehicle Battery Modules

Journal Article · Sat May 03 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Journal of Power Sources

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2025.237245· OSTI ID:2566779

Mallarapu, Anudeep; Park, Sang-Youn; Lim, Jaeyoung; Han, Seong Bin; Lee, Sang Min; Choi, Byoung-Ho; Han, Yongha; Sunderlin, Nathaniel; Santhanagopalan, Shriram

Mitigating thermal runaway and cell-to-cell propagation is essential for improving the safety of electric and hybrid vehicles. Enhancing digital twin capabilities to predict battery mechanical abuse is particularly critical for automotive and aerospace applications, where crashworthiness is a key concern. Understanding failure conditions and propagation in battery modules during mechanical abuse is complex due to interactions between structural deformation, heat transfer, electrochemical processes, exothermic reactions and mechanical fracture. While prior studies have focused on modeling cell-level behavior, extending these models to module or pack level is necessary for a system level understating of electric vehicle safety. This study develops coupled large deformation finite element models that simultaneously solve for electrochemistry, material failure, internal short circuit and thermal runaway propagation. The models account for mechanical and thermal interactions between lithium-ion cells and other battery components while the contact interfaces are evolving with time. Model-predicted voltage, temperature and force responses are compared with experimental data for validation. The results demonstrate that the approach captures key failure mechanisms, including thermal propagation through heat transfer, electrical propagation from short circuits in parallel-connected cells, and mechanical propagation via penetration and crack formation. These findings show that computational models are valuable tools for understanding battery module failure and providing insight that can reduce the need for extensive experimental testing.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Hyundai Motor Corporation
• Grant/Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 2566779
• Report Number(s): NREL/JA-5700-92788; MainId:94570; UUID:15a8f507-672a-48fa-96ea-3ce76613cc20; MainAdminId:76927
• Journal Information: Journal of Power Sources, Journal Name: Journal of Power Sources Vol. 645
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
ENERGY STORAGE
battery safety
crash
finite element analysis
thermal runaway