A review of the internal short circuit mechanism in lithium‐ion batteries: Inducement, detection and prevention

Abstract

Summary Internal short circuit (ISC) of lithium‐ion battery is one of the most common reasons for thermal runaway, commonly caused by mechanical abuse, electrical abuse and thermal abuse. This study comprehensively summarizes the inducement, detection and prevention of the ISC. Firstly, the fault tree is utilized to analyze the ISC inducement, including the abuse conditions, improper manufacture and design defects. Secondly, the ISC substitute triggering methods (utilizing mechanical deformation from the outside or utilizing controllable components introduced inside) are summarized considering the randomness of ISC, which have high repeatability. Moreover, these methods can be used to investigate the evolution and the hazard boundary of ISC. The ISC severity is determined by the ISC type, ISC location, ISC area, battery state of charge, capacity, material and structure. There are four types of ISC mode, the danger extends ranking is aluminum‐anode > aluminum‐copper > cathode‐copper > cathode‐anode. The ISC evolution is presented based on the upper summary. Then, the ISC detection methods are reviewed: (1) comparing the measured data with the predicted value from the model; (2) detecting whether the battery has self‐discharge; (3) comparing based on the battery inconsistency and (4) other signals. Finally, the prevention strategies are summarized, which can be used to reduce the ISC risk by blocking electron or lithium‐ion channels in the battery cell.

Risk evaluation of internal short circuit for lithium‐ion battery based on an active protection method

“…That can lead to "heat spot" problem and then may cause thermal runaway. Generally, ISC can develop from these several cases [3][4][5] : (a) separator defect or separator split. Separator defect may be induced by crush or impact.…”

Fault Diagnosis Method for Lithium-Ion Battery Packs in Real-World Electric Vehicles Based on K-Means and the Fréchet Algorithm

“…However, while electric vehicles are commonly used, often some car safety accidents are caused by battery failure, which greatly affects driving safety . Battery failure is generally caused by mechanical abuse, electrical abuse, and thermal abuse, which in serious cases can trigger thermal runaway and lead to spontaneous combustion . Therefore, realizing early warning of battery failure can effectively decrease safety accidents and bring a safer driving environment for drivers.…”

Internal Short Circuit Detection for Parallel-Connected Battery Cells Using Convolutional Neural Network

“…Among those faults, detecting internal short circuits (ISCs) of batteries is of significant importance, as ISC is one of the major causes of battery thermal runaway [4,5]. Various abuse conditions, such as mechanical (e.g., collision and puncture), electrical (e.g., overcharge/discharge), and thermal (e.g., high-temperature heating) abuses, can result in ISC [6,7]. Typically, an ISC can be described as the penetration of the separator by a lithium dendrite, leading to an electrical connection (i.e., short circuit) between the highpotential and low-potential components of the battery [8].…”