Experimental and simulation investigation of thermal runaway propagation in lithium-ion battery pack systems

Safety issues related to battery thermal runaway hinder the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Thermal runaway propagation in a single cell within the modules and the entire battery system can be hazardous. Limited research has been published on thermal runaway propagation at the battery system level. In this study, thermal runaway propagation experiments were conducted at the battery system level for a comprehensive, multi perspective examination of the temperature, voltage, gas, and pressure changes during thermal runaway propagation in a battery system. Additionally, based on the fundamentals of heat transfer, a preliminary three-dimensional thermal runaway propagation model was developed for battery packs. This model exhibited high simulation accuracy and effectively captured the thermal propagation trends within modules. This research uncovers several of thermal runaway propagation characteristics in battery systems, providing valuable insights for the safe design of battery packs.