About Electrochemical Analysis Procedures

You can use several procedures for the analysis of battery electrochemistry to assess the battery cell's capacity due to different loading conditions, thermal effects, and mechanical effects.

In addition to the procedures available to model porous electrodes, you can also model solid electrodes in batteries, aging in lithium ion batteries, and solid electrolyte and solid state batteries.

Abaqus can solve the following types of electrochemical analyses:

Coupled thermal-electrochemical analysis

The coupled thermal-electrochemical procedure is intended for the analysis of battery electrochemistry applications that require solving simultaneously for temperature, electric potential in the solid electrode, electric potential in the electrolyte, concentration of ions in the electrolyte, and concentration in the solid particles used in the electrodes. In this procedure, the different fields are solved without any knowledge about the stress/deformation states. For more information, see Coupled Thermal-Electrochemical Analysis.

Fully coupled thermal-electrochemical-structural analysis

The fully coupled thermal-electrochemical-structural procedure is used to simultaneously solve for displacements, temperature, electric potential in the solid electrode, electric potential in the electrolyte, concentration of ions in the electrolyte, and concentration in the solid particles used in the electrodes. In this procedure, the thermal field and mechanical fields can affect each other. In addition, the concentration in the solid particles used in the electrodes can affect the mechanical fields through eigenstrains caused by particle swelling during the charge/discharge cycle in the battery. For more information, see Fully Coupled Thermal-Electrochemical-Structural Analysis.

Fully coupled thermal-electrochemical-structural–pore pressure analysis

The fully coupled thermal-electrochemical-structural–pore pressure procedure is used to simultaneously solve for displacements, pore fluid pressure that governs electrolyte flow, temperature, electric potential in the solid electrode, electric potential in the electrolyte, concentration of ions in the electrolyte, and concentration in the solid particles used in the electrodes. In this procedure, the thermal field and mechanical fields can affect each other. In addition, the concentration in the solid particles used in the electrodes can affect the mechanical fields through eigenstrains caused by particle swelling during the charge/discharge cycle in the battery. The fluid pressure and flow velocities in the electrolyte can be affected by the mechanical fields, gravity, and particle swelling during the charge/discharge cycle in the battery. For more information, see Fully Coupled Thermal-Electrochemical-Structural–Pore Pressure Analysis.

In addition to the procedures mentioned above to model porous electrodes, you can also model the following:

Solid electrodes in batteries

Solid particles are not modeled explicitly for a solid electrode. Instead, you define the electrochemistry on the interface between the solid electrode and the porous separator using surface-based loads or surface-based interactions. This approach results in a computationally efficient solution.

You can use any of the procedures listed above to model solid electrodes. For more information, see Modeling Solid Electrodes in Lithium Metal Batteries.

Aging in lithium ion batteries

A rechargeable lithium ion battery undergoes different degradation mechanisms that result in reduced capacity over time. The different aging mechanisms in rechargeable lithium ion batteries such as Solid Electrolyte Interface (SEI) layer growth, lithium plating, clogging of pores, and other phenomena can be modeled.

You can use any of the procedures listed above to model aging in lithium ion batteries. For more information, see Modeling Aging in Batteries.

Solid electrolyte and solid state batteries

Solid state batteries utilize a solid electrolyte, which also acts as a separator. The anode and cathode are solid electrodes with diffusion of species modeled at the cathode. Microscale simulations are not performed in a solid state battery. The interface between the solid electrolyte and the anode or cathode is modeled using surface-based loads or surface-based interactions.

You can use coupled thermal-electrochemical analysis and fully coupled thermal-electrochemical-structural analysis to model solid electrolyte and solid state batteries. For more information, see Modeling Solid Electrolytes and Solid-State Batteries.