Abstract
Automotive high-voltage busbars are critical electrical components in electric vehicle battery systems as they connect individual battery modules and form the connection to the vehicle’s powertrain. Therefore, a vehicle crash can pose a significant risk to safety by compromising busbar insulation, leading to electrical short circuits inside the battery. In turn, these can trigger thermal chain reactions in the cell modules of the battery pack. In order to ensure a safe design in future applications of busbars, this study investigated the mechanical behavior of busbars and their insulation. Our results indicated that crashlike compressive and bending loads lead to complex stress states resulting in failure of busbar insulation. To estimate the safety of busbars in the early development process using finite element simulations, suitable material models were evaluated. Failure of the insulation was included in the simulation using an optimized generalized incremental stress state dependent model (GISSMO). It was shown that sophisticated polymer models do not significantly improve the simulation quality. Finally, on the basis of the experimental and numerical results, we outline some putative approaches for increasing the safety of high-voltage busbars in electric vehicles, such as choosing the insulating layer material according to the range of expected mechanical loads.
Highlights
Current climate and CO2 targets are accelerating the trend towards electric mobility
The mechanical load cases were derived from the common placement of busbars within the battery pack of an electric vehicle
The mechanical failure of the busbars’ insulation depends on the load case, the material used as insulation, and the impactor geometry
Summary
Current climate and CO2 targets are accelerating the trend towards electric mobility. An increasing number of car manufactures have introduced electric vehicle (EV) programs that have led to a strong increase in the share of EVs in the overall market [1]. The most commonly used battery technology in electric vehicles is the lithium-ion battery. As a result of their chemical properties and high energy density, they pose a safety risk in the event of a vehicle crash [2,3]. Large mechanical deformations during a crash can lead to severe mechanical, electrical, or thermal faults within the battery system that can end in a thermal runaway (TR) of the battery cells [4,5]. In addition to damage to the cell itself, the origin of a TR can be caused by, among other things, damage to electrical components creating electrical short circuits [7]
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