Recently, our paper “Failure and Constitutive Behaviour of a Li-ion Pouch Cell Under Mechanical Loading” was published in Journal of Power Sources Advances. In this work, we present experimental results obtained on a pouch cell that deepen the understanding of cell failure. The findings represent an important step in improving finite-element models of battery cells on the way to predicting short-circuits in crash scenarios. Authors: Andreas Trondl, Benjamin Schaufelberger, Thomas Kisters, Clemens Fehrenbach, Anja Steiert, Dong-Zhi Sun
Failure and Constitutive Behaviour of a Li-ion Pouch Cell Under Mechanical Loading🔋🚘 Batteries play a key role in the crashworthiness of electric vehicles. Whether a collision results in only structural damage or escalates to a fire or explosion depends on if an internal short circuit occurs. Current full-vehicle crash simulations lack a validated experimental model for assessing cell deformations and predicting short circuits. Our recent experimental study in collaboration with Fraunhofer IWM, conducted on a pouch cell, addresses a crucial part of that gap. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: ➡️ Cracking in the battery cell initiates before the force peak; the inflection point in the force–displacement curve can serve as an early indicator of layer failure. ➡️ CT scans confirm that the force peak coincides with through-thickness failure of the cell’s interior structure ➡️ The electrolyte significantly influences the compressive response of active materials, especially on the graphite side. ➡️ Separator foils (polymers) achieve 6–8× higher elongation at break than metals with pronounced tensile anisotropy; copper behaves as expected, while aluminum fails earlier due to surface defects. These insights provide a precise experimental basis for the development of enhanced cell-level models, which in turn improve predictive accuracy in full-vehicle crash simulations—ultimately driving better battery design and safety. The study is part of the BATTmobil project, funded by the Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Tourismus Baden-Württemberg. More information: https://lnkd.in/e58whyh9 Fraunhofer Battery Alliance