Fault tree analysis of prismatic lithium thionyl chloride (Li/SOCl2) battery cells - phase 1

This paper addresses and presents the initial key findings of a fault tree analysis, which was conducted in phase 1 of a project to address the reliability of prismatic lithium thionyl chloride (Li/SOCl₂) battery cells. These types of battery cells are typically used in a large range of battery products, from OEM applications to military applications (Levy and Bro, 1987; Miles, 2001). Specialized high-power, high current, high rate lithium batteries, based upon nonaqueous liquid (i.e., thionyl chloride) cathodes can be found in aerospace and military applications where high energy density is required for critical mission requirements (Baldwin et al., 1990; Linden and Reddy, 2002; Miles, 2001; Vincent, 1999). The initial description of the fault tree analysis (i.e., the translation of the failure behavior of a physical system into a visual diagram) is covered in this paper. However, the "logic model" aspect of the FTA will be addressed in the future (i.e., in phase 2).