Finite element analysis considering packaging efficiency of innovative battery pack designs

Recently, various alternative battery pack design studies have been conducted to achieve the safety requirements of an electric vehicle (EV). This article assesses the performance of a mechanical battery pack structure on the basis of energy absorption and packaging efficiency, thus enabling optimization of the EV’s overall performance in addition to the actual crash performance. Commercially available battery pack structure is evaluated in competition with alternative geometric concepts. The study determines the maximum possible packing efficiency on the basis of geometric considerations and also evaluates its energy absorption characteristics using crashworthiness indicators. The method is limited to the evaluation of the battery pack structures at component level using the finite element method subjected to static and dynamic simulations under the side pole impacts according to international crash standards. During the dynamic simulations, the energy absorbed by the battery cells is also evaluated using simplified crushable foam material.