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Farasis Energy, a leader in lithium-ion battery technology, is spearheading a research consortium to enhance the safety of electric vehicles. Collaborating with Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG and the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Speed Dynamics, Ernst-Mach-Institut, EMI, the consortium focuses on improving plastic-based battery housings. This initiative, titled Project SiKuBa, has secured 2.6 million euros from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.
Launched in July 2023, this three-year project is a significant stride towards safer electric mobility. Plastic housings, preferred for their lightness, sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and better electrical insulation, face challenges in ensuring safety. In scenarios like thermal runaway, where a damaged cell may ignite adjacent cells, the housing’s role in containing hot gases and particles is crucial. Proving this safety aspect, however, remains a complex and costly endeavor.
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The SiKuBa project aims to address these challenges by experimentally analyzing and then simulating the formation and spread of hot gas and particle flows. This approach is expected to enhance both cost and time efficiency in the development phase. It also allows for a more comprehensive assessment of battery safety across various load case scenarios, materials, and component designs.
At the laboratory level, the project investigates fundamental effects, such as thermomechanical material behavior and cell degassing. These findings are then integrated into simulation models and validated through physical tests on a demonstrator housing. The developed simulation methods promise not only significant savings in time and cost but also a thorough evaluation of battery safety under diverse conditions.
Farasis Energy’s contribution is pivotal in this venture. They are tasked with leading the method development for the simulation model, focusing on thermal runaway and its propagation in battery modules. This research will culminate in a detailed model for simulating these scenarios or enhance existing models within Farasis. The insights gleaned will be instrumental in future module and pack projects, expediting development, reducing testing costs, and ensuring quicker, safer integration of plastic-based module and pack enclosures.
SiKuBa, an acronym for “safe and sustainable plastic-based battery housings,” represents a significant leap in electric vehicle safety, marking a notable advancement in the field of electromobility.
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