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Successful Battery Cell Design with Simulation
With increased consumer interest and governments pushing to achieve global climate initiatives, the market demand for Electric Vehicles (EVs) is rising sharply. Automotive manufacturers have responded to this growing demand by committing to end the production of Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) and make all manufactured vehicles EVs by 2035. In order to achieve this ambitious timeline, automotive battery manufacturers are focused on pioneering new battery technologies. EV batteries must outperform ICEs in terms of power, range, and longevity to drive the transition to cleaner and more sustainable vehicles.
In EVs, the battery’s cell design and electrochemistry lay the foundation for the rest of the battery architecture to be constructed and modified according to the vehicle's needs. Successfully engineering cutting-edge battery cell design ensures the efficient use of materials, machinery, and intellectual capital in the mass production of EVs. Automotive battery engineers are employing simulation tools to fast-track battery cell research and development to meet the expanding market demands.
Background on Cell Design & Electrochemistry
All batteries are made of a single cell or a grouping of cells. A battery cell is a single-unit container that stores the electrochemicals and converts them into electrical energy through chemical reactions. Typically, EV batteries contain between 5,000 and 9,000 cells. Battery cells can be designed into a variety of shapes and sizes, but are most often formed into prismatic, cylindrical, and pouch shapes.
Designing a battery cell requires electrochemistry expertise to ensure a precise composition of materials. Electrochemistry is the study of the intricate interconversions between electrical and chemical energy. Electrochemists specialize in the movement of ions and electrons through different surface areas. In automotive battery design, electrochemical engineers focus on how effectively charged particles pass through electrodes and electrolytes. The rigorous calibration of these electrochemical processes determine battery voltage, capacity, and longevity.
Battery cells with the optimal electrochemical composition ensure the appropriate energy density is created and maintained. Energy density is the amount of energy a battery can store based on its size or weight. The battery energy density of EVs determines the performance, range, and overall design of the vehicle. Higher energy density batteries store more energy within a given volume or weight. Achieving higher energy density is a key to developing batteries that produce and sustain the appropriate electrical charge through the entire usage period.
Challenges To Automotive Battery Cell Design
Considering the complex nature of electrochemistry in battery cell design, manufacturers must take a methodical approach to meet the demand for efficient EV batteries. However, there are many challenges facing engineers in the design, engineering, and production of battery cells including:
Cost-Intensive Prototyping Materials: Designing new battery technology that meets modern energy density and power requirements requires engineers to manually experiment with costly and often hazardous rare earth elements and raw materials.
Complex Battery Design Specifications: Battery cells have intricate geometries and design constraints that require extensive experimentation to ensure proper safety and functionality.
Stringent Development Regulatory Requirements: Procuring and manufacturing with rare earth and raw materials involves many environmental variables and thus, requires adherence to strict governmental regulations.
Capital-Intensive Production Needs: Engineers also must take into account production costs, end user needs like recharging them to their full potential, and how to effectively structure them into a pack when designing battery cells.
In order to overcome these challenges, automotive battery cell engineers must accelerate their decision-making capacity to streamline the process from design concept through production to market launch. Simulations provide a competition edge with faster iteration and improvement cycles, accelerating decision-making.
Accelerating Decision-Making in Battery Cell Design
Current computational models are limited in their predictions for the ideal design and chemical properties for battery cells. The complexity of electrochemical reactions at the atomic and molecular levels make it very challenging to create advanced simulation models that determine battery performance, behavior, or regulatory requirement satisfaction. However, with rapid technological advances, many simulation companies like Solution Provider 1 are developing solutions to simulate this complex model in the future accurately.
Using advanced simulation tools, designers will be able to simulate the chemical properties of battery cells to conduct various experiments in a virtual environment to predict performance and capabilities. Simulation tools will provide data points around many vital aspects of battery cell performance including discharge rate, ion movements, and diffusivity. Simulation tools will also explore the weight-volume ratio for optimizing battery energy density.
Further, material selection and procurement will be advanced with broader experimentation and testing. Eventually, simulation tools will aid engineers in creating full-optimized batteries that are more efficient, offer a longer range, and increased longevity. Simulations will be used to improve efficiencies at every stage of battery cell development. Subsequently, simulations will save automotive battery manufacturers millions of dollars and reduce resource consumption through research and development, prototyping and testing, and mass manufacturing.
Solution Provider 1 is developing simulations to overcome the key challenges facing battery cell designers. The following two case studies highlight how Solution Provider 1’s specific simulation programs can advance decision-making to enhance the performance and production of batteries.
Use Case Study 1: Electromechanical Modeling
Using Solution Provider 1’s 3D electrochemistry simulations, designers can create models to understand and experiment with the impact of quantum details on battery performance including:
Particle size
Porosity
Tortuosity
Surface area
Lithium concentration
Electrochemical reaction at Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI)
Material properties
Electric conductivity
Lithium diffusivity
Electromechanical modeling using simulations will help optimize battery cell power, cycle life performance, energy density, and more.
Solution Provider 1’s simulation program has the unique capability to mesh the scanned geometry of battery electrodes, building the foundation for a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Solver to capture the required physics including chemical reactions, heat transfer, and the flow of electrolytes. Considering the complex structure and detailed geometry, the mesh size for a CFD Solver project requires intensive computational processing. Solution Provider 1’s High-Performing Computing (HPC) simulation capability will effectively manage the demands of such a large engineering project.
Use Case Study 2: Battery Aging and Swelling through Electrochemical Modeling
Electrochemistry modeling can simulate battery aging and swelling. Solution Provider 1 Simulation Solution B utilizes Newman Pseudo 2-Dimensional (P2D), a mathematical framework to simulate the electrochemical behavior of lithium-ion batteries. Newman P2D is also used as a sub-model for 3D thermal modeling. Simulation Solution B allows engineers to study the impact of aging cells on thermal performance.
Newman P2D can also model the impact of swelling on battery cells. Battery swelling can be caused by overcharging, internal short circuits, and electrolyte breakdown. Simulation Solution B uses an Intrinsic Finite Element Analysis (FEA) Solver to model how real-world factors like vibration, fluid flow, and heat cause swelling. The FEA Solver simulates the electrochemical, structural, and mechanical impacts of battery swell on a cell’s 3D geometry.
Summary
Automotive battery cell design determines the performance, efficiency, and longevity of a battery. In order for automotive manufacturers to meet their goal to make all manufactured EVs by 2035, batteries must offer the same capabilities of ICEs. To meet these goals, engineers will have to overcome the biggest challenges including the high cost of development, production, and regulatory compliance.
Battery cell design challenges can be overcome with simulations. Simulations can model complex electrochemical processes and help engineers develop innovative new technology fast and cost-effectively. Optimized battery cells will ensure that EVs drive further, faster, and longer, meeting the needs of the market and ensuring sustainable transportation in the future.
Key Takeaways:
Starting in 2035, automotive manufacturers will only manufacture EVs
To meet the demand, EV battery cells must be optimize for performance
Battery cell design is challenging and cost-intensive
Simulations can manage the costs and accelerate development
Solution Provider 1 simulations will help automotive manufacturer reach their 2035 goal
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