Finite element versus experimental Thermo-mechanical behaviour of prismatic Li-Ion cell

In electric vehicle design it is crucial to identify the batteries behaviour. To understand properly how batteries behave, proper characterization tests are needed. In the literature, many different models of various degree of complexity were developed to simulate the electrochemical, electrical and thermal behaviour of Li-Ion cells. In this work, the focus is on the cell thermal and mechanical aspects. To guarantee proper battery pack operations, it is crucial to pay attention on the thermal aspects to guarantee both safe working conditions and a homogeneous exploitation of the cells capabilities, useful for better performance of the whole battery pack in terms of number of cycles. In this work, the behaviour of a prismatic Li-Ion cell was investigated from a simulation prospective. A cell CAE model was implemented within the ANSYS environment and it was used to obtain numerical results under various discharging current rates. The resulting model was validated with experimental data and then it was coupled with a structural model in order to evaluate the thermal induced strain and stress.