NAFEMS Americas and Digital Engineering (DE) teamed up (once again) to present CAASE, the (now Virtual) Conference on Advancing Analysis & Simulation in Engineering, on June 16-18, 2020!

CAASE20 brought together the leading visionaries, developers, and practitioners of CAE-related technologies in an open forum, unlike any other, to share experiences, discuss relevant trends, discover common themes, and explore future issues, including:
-What is the future for engineering analysis and simulation?
-Where will it lead us in the next decade?
-How can designers and engineers realize its full potential?
What are the business, technological, and human enablers that will take past successful developments to new levels in the next ten years?

Resource Abstract

The battery becomes more important in the vehicle electrification nowadays. Among various battery types, a secondary lithium-ion battery is widely used as in the electric vehicle due to its energy density advantage. Even though many researchers and engineers are investigating to increase more energy density and battery life without degradation, the structural integrity in the module and pack is also getting more attention due to swelling in the case of pouch type battery in the electric vehicle. Swelling is the volumetric change during charging and discharging history in the battery. In the electric vehicle battery, this swelling behavior is very important on structural integrity since it changes the overall stress status of the battery module and pack structure.

In this study, we build the finite element model of the pouch type battery module. The module has several pouch battery cells. The pouch cells are constrained by the belt and the housing cover is also constrained by the bolt. Using this finite element model, we simulate the pretension effect for constraining battery cell and housing. And the swelling analysis is followed considering SOC (state of charge) change. In this analysis, we can check how much stress in the module is increased by the swelling behavior of the pouch type battery. The stress change is also considered in further analysis due to aging using a simple relationship between stress change and SOH (State of Health). Considering the swelling effect of the battery module structure, most of the structural analyses for the module, which are widely used in the market, are performed: crush analysis, nail penetration analysis, mechanical shock analysis, and rollover analysis. Before performing the finite element analysis, each pouch cell material property is calibrated with reference experiment results, such as compression and indentation test. Overall simulation conditions and results are introduced and discussed.