Thermal Runaway in Electric Vehicle Crash Simulation using LS-DYNA

Safety is an important functional requirement in the development of large-format, energy-dense, lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries used in electrified vehicles. Many automakers have dealt with this issue by enclosing the batteries into robust protective cases to prevent any penetration and deformation during car crashes. While this worked well for first-generation vehicles, consumers are increasingly interested in higher range, which makes overengineered heavy protective cases detrimental for range. A more detailed understanding of battery cell behavior under abuse becomes is therefore necessary to properly make design trade-offs.