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Novel Lightweight and Protective Battery System Based on Mechanical Metamaterials

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Abstract

The challenges facing electric vehicles with respect to driving range and safety make the design of a lightweight and safe battery pack a critical issue. This study proposes a multifunctional structural battery system comprising cylindrical battery cells and a surrounding lightweight lattice metamaterial. The lattice density distribution was optimized via topological optimization to minimize stress on the battery during compression. Surrounding a single 18650 cylindrical battery cell, non-uniform lattices were designed featuring areas of increased density in an X-shaped pattern and then fabricated by additive manufacturing using stainless steel powders. Compression testing of the assembled structural battery system revealed that the stronger lattice units in the X-shaped lattice pattern resisted deformation and helped delay the emergence of a battery short circuit. Specifically, the short circuit of the structural battery based on a variable-density patterned lattice was \({\sim }166{\%}\) later than that with a uniform-density lattice. Finite element simulation results for structural battery systems comprising nine battery cells indicate that superior battery protection is achieved in specially packed batteries via non-uniform lattices with an interconnected network of stronger lattices. The proposed structural battery systems featuring non-uniform lattices will shed light on the next generation of lightweight and impact-resistant electric vehicle designs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11872099 and 11902015), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFB0103703) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Beihang University.

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Author notes

  1. Yao Huang and Weihua Guo have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vehicle Energy and Safety Laboratory (VESL), Department of Automotive Engineering, School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Yao Huang, Weihua Guo & Sha Yin

  2. Institute of Unmanned System, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

    Jiao Jia

  3. Key Laboratory Impact and Safety Engineering, Ministry of Education and Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, Zhejiang, China

    Lubing Wang

Authors
  1. Yao Huang
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  2. Weihua Guo
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  3. Jiao Jia
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  4. Lubing Wang
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  5. Sha Yin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sha Yin.

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CRediT Author’s Contribution

YH took part in methodology, software, visualization and writing the original draft. WG was involved in software, formal analysis, investigation and writing the original draft. Ji had contributed to methodology. LW was responsible for software. SY carried out conceptualization, supervision, methodology, resources, writing, reviewing and editing.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Huang, Y., Guo, W., Jia, J. et al. Novel Lightweight and Protective Battery System Based on Mechanical Metamaterials. Acta Mech. Solida Sin. 34, 862–871 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10338-021-00249-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10338-021-00249-5

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