Experimental triggers for internal short circuits in lithium-ion cells

✍ Scribed by Christopher J. Orendorff; E. Peter Roth; Ganesan Nagasubramanian

• Book ID: 104026634
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 795 KB
• Volume: 196
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0378-7753
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2011.03.035

✦ Synopsis

Lithium-ion cell field failures due to internal short circuits are a significant concern to the entire lithiumion cell market from consumer electronics to electric vehicles. While the probability of these failure events occurring is estimated to be very low (1 in 5-10 million), the consequences of a cell failure due to an internal short in a high energy battery system have the potential to be catastrophic. The statistical probability of one of these events is very low and they are difficult to predict and simulate in a laboratory using some external test; which makes cell failure due to an internal short circuit a unique challenge to overcome. Several of the experiments designed to simulate internal shorts have been adopted as testing protocols across the industry; in general, they do not accurately simulate an internal short. This work highlights our efforts to experimentally trigger an internal short circuit in a lithium-ion cell.