This conference paper was submitted for presentation at the NAFEMS World Congress 2025, held in Salzburg, Austria from May 19–22, 2025.

Abstract

Ensuring the safety of battery systems under mechanical impact represents a significant challenge in the development of modern energy storage technologies. The costs and time requirements of physical testing often make numerical simulation an essential tool for analyzing the complex mechanical and multiphysics phenomena involved. In scenarios involving a crash event, the initial trigger for battery failure is commonly the mechanical indentation or deformation of battery cells, which can result in internal short circuits. The resulting electric current flow generates localized heat, which causes a significant rise in temperature. Such heat can propagate to adjacent cells, thereby initiating further short circuits and creating a cascading effect. The process has the potential to escalate into a thermal runaway, a highly dangerous phenomenon that must be avoided to ensure the safety of the system. This study employs a multiscale and multiphysics simulation approach to model the behavior of a battery module subjected to mechanical impact. The modeling process begins with a global representation of the battery pack, which captures the overall structural response, including interactions between individual cells. The objective of this process is to identify specific regions that should be the focus of further investigation. These regions are then analyzed using a refined submodel that combines shell and solid elements to represent the layered structure of battery cells accurately. Contact definitions are applied to all interfacial layers, ensuring realistic modeling of component interactions. This hierarchical approach strikes a balance between computational efficiency and the need for detailed resolution in critical areas. In order to capture the cascading effects of thermal and mechanical interactions, the framework integrates multiphysics simulations. These simulations investigate the coupled electrothermal effects, including the conditions that lead to internal short circuits and the subsequent propagation of heat. By integrating the three domains, the approach allows for a comprehensive evaluation of the mechanical stability and failure mechanisms of the battery system under impact scenarios.