Besides ensuring vehicle occupants’ safety, the battery life needs to be maximized via the module layout and battery life management strategy. Running current, thickness, charge/discharge speed, and temperature all strongly impact battery life. As a result of increasing time and cost pressure facing OEMs for the most recent generation of electrification technology, a brand new dedicated center was opened for comprehensive battery modules testing. The program drives which kind of battery module and package testing is necessary.
Battery module and package testing entail hardly any testing of the inner chemical reactions of their respective cells. Common performance-based tests comprise drive-cycles, peak power capacity, BMS software validation, along other application-specific characterization evaluations. Battery module test equipment is essential at every stage of the item life-cycle, such as R&D, production, and depot repair.
Challenges of Battery Module Testing
Battery package and module testing are much more crucial than ever. Now’s engineers face new challenges such as increased sophistication of the evaluations and set-ups, long development and evaluation times, addressing security needs, and avoiding dangers.
What’s more, testing into the program necessitates emulating real-life conditions by reacting to communication signals in the battery, external or system devices. Although testing batteries might seem like an easy job, there are various challenges because of their sophistication and poisonous nature. In three supply alternatives to overcome all these pain points.
- Battery testing requires a lengthy period.
Battery module tests can be lengthy and these are not chemical experiment reaction tests. For instance, many EV makers are conducting accelerated life cycle evaluations that may take as long as six weeks.
- Errors result in re-running tests
on account of battery testing sophistication; there’ll probably be errors. Tests need to be re-run, and there aren’t any short-cuts to conserve the time that has been missing.
- Battery testing requires substantial and expensive equipment
Battery test gear takes up floor area & takes a capital expenditure. That is why it’s very important to pick the ideal test solution that’s flexible for an assortment of programs & requirements.
Battery Cell Vs. Battery Module Vs. Battery Packs Testing Differences
Battery Cell, Module, and Pack Definitions
A battery module includes some cells together with connectors, electronic equipment, or another mechanical packaging.
A battery pack includes any number of battery modules and additional straps, electronic equipment, or packing. Like electricity electronic equipment testing, there are rather various testing goals utilized when evaluating components instead of a completed assembly.
Battery module testing investigates the dynamics of their chemical reactions to understand electrochemical performance features and forecast the viability for use in a battery module or package.
When analyzing cells, engineers execute electrochemical methods to value the internal chemical responses and comprehend the mobile stuff’s fundamentals. Cell testing happens before continuing to module and package level testing.
After the mobile component’s dynamics and behavior are known, the cells are built into individual packs and modules. For instance, the 2018 Nissan Leaf Battery Pack consists of 24 modules, each comprising numerous cells. Kinds of battery mobile evaluations and techniques may comprise.
Types of Battery Module and Pack Testing
Battery module and package testing are vital for assessing the battery’s condition and functionality. Tests can also be conducted to assess the functioning of the electronic parts and systems connected to the battery like the BMS, attached cables, sensors, and battery fuses.
Module Level
Module degree battery testing generally entails charge and release tests to make certain the mobile connections are safe and powerful enough to handle the expected current loads without repainting, failing or overheating. Further tests could ensure cells are more balanced, voltages are reported correctly, and the temperature detectors operate as necessary.
Pack Level
A complete group of evaluations must be done to ensure that every package subsystem performs nicely, including the security mechanisms, the external hardware, and BMS communications.
Necessary Battery Module Test Equipments for Fault Identification
- Acceleration Test Equipment
The energy was increased to 27.5 kW over 3 minutes in the speed test, then decreased to zero over 2 seconds. An unusually high relative voltage fall among those concurrent strips in module 5 has been detected, which signaled that a suspected error.
- Battery Cycling
Battery cycling is fundamental at all screening; a core component of the battery module and package testing is battery biking. Battery biking is the procedure for discharging, and charging a battery also plays a part in all kinds of tests. The way the battery is cycled is based upon the chemistry, program, and catalog with the aims of the test.
- Vibration Testing Equipment
Rechargeable batteries would be the most popular kind of batteries in electrical, EV, and hybrids, HV. Throughout their lifetime, the batteries will probably be exposed to vibrations, and consequently, vibration testing is required by numerous standards.
Testing on various size amounts of these batteries, i.e., mobile, module, or package, are suggested. Vibration testing is quite prevalent in the automotive sector. Both entire cars and parts are analyzed. A vehicle is a huge structure, and for that reason, its low resonance frequencies, and the harm is principally brought on by the very low-frequency content of the vibration spectrum.
- Constant discharge tests
The electricity was raised to approximately 20 kW from the constant discharge test and then gradually decreased until a comparatively steady current of approximately 100A each side pod was preserved before a minimal voltage of 2.9V was quantified in any mobile. Small changes in the current draw were released with the motorist trying to keep a continuous presence.
DGBELL Opens a New Horizon for Battery Module Test Equipment
The facility, made by powertrain expert DGBELL, empowers compact and modules automobile batteries disassembling process for after testing evaluation. It gives a climate-controlled environment to perform real-world testing to streamline emerging technologies’ evaluation and identification phases.
In addition to offering after test suitability checking, the EV battery module pack testing and assembly facility empower simulation which operates under requirements of drive-cycle to rate the operation of battery-powered technologies in practical surroundings. It also permits your capability to evaluate modules, cells, and EV battery packs to get continuous voltage in case of open-circuit state tests, batteries storing capability, and thermal features, such as voltage reaction below high release behavior and inner resistance.
Our test equipment provides the facility to run evaluations within a customizable temperature range with precise temperature and humidity control. The wireless test chamber receives a power supply that is bi-directional and acceptable for EV battery pack module testing with the environmental chambers’ control and software.
Importance & Applications of Battery Module Test
The battery market is increasing quickly because of electrification in the automotive, aerospace, and energy sectors. Subsequently, batteries would be the critical component for electrifying cars, airplanes, trains, and the grid. Thus, the current engineers, researchers, and supervisors must understand the basics of how to examine batteries and the most effective approaches to guarantee product functionality, security, and time to market.
- Aging features of the battery
- Ability measurement
- Quality of manufacturing
- External mechanical pressure effects
- Battery cooling system
- Efficiency evaluation
- Quick charging performance
- Mobile to module/pack correlation
- Manufacturing production
- Delivery preparation
- Warranty validation
Conclusion
Battery testing is much more significant than ever with electrification, and there are numerous challenges since it’s complicated, time-consuming, information-intensive, and poisonous. Key fundamentals of battery life testing comprise understanding key phrases like the condition of cost (SOC); the battery management system (BMS) that has important functions such as communication, security, and security; and battery biking (charge and discharge) that is the center of the majority of tests. Unlike mobile testing, module and package testing are program-based.
This application note demonstrated that battery testing is mainly utilized in design (technology characterization) and production, and each has a different goal. In reviewing battery testing growth, we’ve revealed that many analyzing challenges could be overcome by choosing the proper solution.