Predicting Thermal Behavior of Lithium-ion Batteries for Electric Car Applications

Abstract

As the popularity of electric vehicles increases, significant research is being performed on lithium-ion batteries (LIB). Safety is a serious issue in the applications using high energy-density LIBs. A phenomenon known as thermal runaway (TR) is the major exothermal process that may cause a LIB's catastrophic failure. It is very important to predict TR conditions in order to prevent an uncontrollable chemical reaction caused by TR. For this purpose, a reliable model is needed. This paper constructs an electrochemical-thermal model, which includes the effects of the chemical reactions during TR, for a commercially available pouch L i F e P O4 (LFP) battery. A detailed analysis of the proposed models is performed and then validated against experimental results. Simulation results showed good agreement with the experimental data. The study presented here helps identify conditions at which TR may occur and provides a guide to the safe design of battery management systems. © 2023 IEEE.