Battery Pack Double Cover Venting for Thermal Runaway Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery packs suffer from heat concentration and gas buildup during thermal events, leading to potential explosions and flame propagation, compromising safety and stability.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design featuring a deformable double-structured cover member and venting system that disperses heat and facilitates gas discharge, preventing flame chain reactions and thermal runaway.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a single cover member is firmly fixed to the pack case, then structural strength and stability are improved, but heat concentration and gas buildup occur during thermal events leading to safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The single cover member is divided into multiple cover members (first cover member, second cover member, third cover member) that are arranged in sequence. This segmentation allows heat and gas to be dispersed across multiple compartments rather than concentrated in one location, resolving the heat concentration problem while maintaining overall structural strength through the distributed cover system.
Solution Approach 2:
Buffer spaces are introduced as intermediary regions between the cover members and between the cover members and battery modules. These buffer spaces act as mediators that absorb and distribute thermal energy and gas pressure, preventing direct heat concentration on the cover structure while maintaining structural integrity.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a single cover member is firmly fixed to the pack case, then structural stability is improved, but gas discharge is blocked causing internal pressure increase and explosion risk
Solution Approach 1:
The cover system is segmented into multiple cover members with buffer spaces between them, creating multiple compartments. This segmentation provides multiple pathways for gas discharge and prevents gas buildup in any single location, reducing explosion risk while maintaining structural stability through the distributed configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful gas is extracted from the enclosed space by providing buffer spaces that allow gas to move freely between compartments and be discharged. This extraction of gas from the confined space prevents pressure buildup and maintains structural stability.
3Device complexity
If a single cover member is used, then device complexity is reduced, but thermal runaway can propagate to other battery modules causing chain reactions
Solution Approach 1:
The cover structure is segmented into multiple cover members that create separate compartments between battery modules. This segmentation physically isolates thermal events to specific compartments, preventing flame propagation to other modules and improving reliability without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Buffer spaces act as intermediary barriers between battery modules, providing thermal isolation and preventing direct flame propagation. These intermediary spaces break the chain reaction pathway while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
4Strength
If the cover member is firmly fixed without deformability, then structural strength is improved, but heat and gas cannot be evenly dispersed during thermal events
Solution Approach 1:
The cover system is segmented into multiple movable cover members that can independently deform and shift during thermal events. This segmentation allows each cover member to respond to local thermal conditions, enabling even heat dispersion across the entire structure while maintaining overall structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover members are designed with deformability, allowing them to dynamically adjust their positions in response to thermal expansion and gas pressure. This dynamic capability enables the cover structure to adapt to thermal events, dispersing heat evenly while maintaining structural integrity through the flexible configuration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design achieves uniform thermal distribution, easy gas venting, and prevents thermal runaway by diffusing heat and discharging gases, enhancing safety and stability.
Implementation Method 1
the first cover may be deformed within the interval formed between the second cover and the first cover... achieving uniform thermal distribution
Implementation Method 2
a movement passage may be formed as deformation occurs in an area of the first cover except the edge due to a venting gas generated from the battery cell
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed is a battery pack and a vehicle including the same. The battery pack includes a plurality of battery modules in which a plurality of battery cells are stacked; a pack case in which the plurality of battery modules are accommodated; and a cover member coupled to the pack case, wherein the cover member is configured in a double structure in which at least one structure is formed to be deformable.