Modeling state-of-charge dependent mechanical response of lithium-ion batteries with volume expansion

The behavior of lithium-ion batteries under mechanical abuse conditions has been studied extensively in recent years. Typically, characterization is performed by conducting experiments on discharged batteries to minimize the chances of thermal runaway and fire. However, studies have shown that material models calibrated at discharged state may not be as accurate at higher states of charge. In this study, a combined experimental-numerical method is proposed to simulate the stiffening of mechanical response in electrode stacks/jellyrolls of lithium-ion batteries at various states of charge and levels of confinement. Our study indicates that the mechanical properties of the jellyroll do not inherently change as a function of the state of charge, rather, the primary cause of the higher stiffness in charged batteries is the volume expansion of the jellyroll during charging. Therefore, mechanical characterization tests are conducted at the discharged state and the expansion of the jellyroll is induced in the finite element models to match the equivalent volume at the desired state of charge. In the second phase of the simulation, mechanical abuse loading is applied to validate the accuracy of simulations using the test data. This method was applied and validated for both pouch and cylindrical batteries with high accuracy.