Pyrotechnic Battery Pack Brackets for Thermal Runaway Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric vehicle battery packs are vulnerable to thermal runaway during collisions, which can lead to fires and pose risks to occupants and responders, despite efforts to protect them, as current safety measures are inadequate in preventing the spread of heat and fire.
Innovation Solution
A mechanism involving pyrotechnic bracket assemblies, sensors, and an electronic control unit to physically separate the battery pack from the vehicle in catastrophic events, using explosive charges to sever fasteners and create distance, triggered by sensors detecting impact, thermal events, or other hazardous conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If structural supporting beams and cross members are added to protect the battery pack, then the battery pack protection is improved, but the vehicle weight and bulk increase adversely affecting fuel economy
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is segmented from the vehicle structure through pyrotechnic bracket assemblies that can rapidly separate the battery pack from the vehicle in catastrophic events. This segmentation allows the battery pack to be protected during normal operation through minimal structural attachment while enabling complete separation when needed, avoiding the need for continuous heavy protective structures.
Solution Approach 2:
Pyrotechnic bracket assemblies are pre-installed between the battery pack and vehicle chassis, containing explosive charges that are activated only in catastrophic events. This preliminary positioning of separation mechanisms eliminates the need for heavy continuous protective structures, as the separation capability is already in place and requires minimal activation force.
2Reliability
If structural supporting beams and cross members are added to protect the battery pack, then the battery pack protection is improved, but the vehicle bulk increases adversely affecting fuel economy
Solution Approach 1:
The battery pack is segmented from the vehicle structure through pyrotechnic bracket assemblies that can rapidly separate the battery pack from the vehicle in catastrophic events. This segmentation allows the battery pack to be protected during normal operation through minimal structural attachment while enabling complete separation when needed, avoiding the need for continuous heavy protective structures.
Solution Approach 2:
Pyrotechnic bracket assemblies are pre-installed between the battery pack and vehicle chassis, containing explosive charges that are activated only in catastrophic events. This preliminary positioning of separation mechanisms eliminates the need for heavy continuous protective structures, as the separation capability is already in place and requires minimal activation force.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If pyrotechnic bracket assemblies are used to separate the battery pack, then the prevention of thermal runaway propagation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pyrotechnic separation mechanism extracts the battery pack from the vehicle structure by severing fasteners through explosive force. This extraction removes the battery pack completely from the vehicle in catastrophic events, preventing thermal runaway propagation without requiring complex containment structures or active cooling systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The pyrotechnic system replaces complex mechanical separation mechanisms with a chemical energy-based explosive charge that severs fasteners. This substitution simplifies the overall system by using a high-energy-density chemical reaction instead of complex mechanical actuators, sensors, and control systems.
4Reliability
If existing safety measures are used to protect the battery pack, then some protection is provided, but the risk of fire spread to occupants and responders remains high
Solution Approach 1:
The pyrotechnic separation mechanism extracts the battery pack from the vehicle structure by severing fasteners. This extraction removes the battery pack completely from the vehicle in catastrophic events, preventing thermal runaway propagation without requiring complex containment structures or active cooling systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The pyrotechnic bracket assemblies are pre-positioned to enable rapid separation before thermal runaway can propagate to the vehicle. By having the separation mechanism ready in advance and activating it at the first sign of catastrophic failure, the system prevents fire spread before it can affect occupants or responders.
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
Effectively prevents the propagation of thermal runaway by physically isolating the battery pack, reducing the risk of fire and damage to the vehicle and its occupants, while minimizing weight and bulk additions to the vehicle.
Implementation Method 1
an explosive charge, whereupon activation the explosive charge is configured to rapidly expand to force the projectile into the fastener with a force sufficient to sever the fastener
Data Source
AI summary
An electric vehicle battery pack release system configured to cause a physical separation of a battery pack from an electric vehicle on to which the battery pack is mounted, including one or more pyrotechnic bracket assembly configured to operably couple a battery pack to an electric vehicle, one or more sensor configured to sense a state of the electric vehicle, and an electronic control unit configured to receive data from the one or more sensors and to trigger an explosion in the one or more pyrotechnic bracket assemblies to affect the physical separation of the battery pack from the electric vehicle.