Jason Ford

C2I 2017: Understanding failure - a path towards safer lithium ion batteries

In-Depth

Maritime rescue and recovery operations are often carried out in high sea states, which can result in injury or death if something goes wrong. Consequently, a collaborative project saw four universities and industrial partners investigate the development of a numerical model that can be applied routinely for the analysis of the motion and loadings of two bodies in close proximity, with or without physical connection in high sea states.

To forge a path towards safer lithium ion batteries, a team at UCL set about studying the mechanisms that cause rapid and catastrophic failure in li-ion batteries

Collaborate To Innovate 2017

Category: Safety & security

Winner: Understanding failure: a path towards safer lithium ion batteries

Partners: UCL; NASA; NREL; European Synchrotron; UK National Physical Laboratory

The year 2013 was one to forget for a pair of high-profile OEMs whose use of lithium-ion batteries in big-ticket transportation technologies resulted in high-profile failure. In the spring of that year, Boeing’s fleet of 50 787 Dreamliners was grounded by regulators after batteries smouldered during a flight over a Japan, and others caught fire on a different aircraft parked at a US airport.

safer lithium ion batteries

By the autumn, Tesla’s shares plummeted by six per cent after one of its vehicles struck an obstacle and burst into flames. The batteries hadn’t failed, but the collision was said to have set off a chain of events that caused the inferno. In 2015, three airlines halted bulk shipments of lithium-ion batteries in their cargo aircraft after tests by the US Federal Aviation Administration found overheating batteries could cause major fires.

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