Health monitoring of lithium-ion batteries

An integrated technique for health monitoring of lithium-ion batteries is presented in this paper. Monitoring is performed using an ultrasonic transducer pulser and receiver that are attached to the external surfaces of a lithium-ion cell. The cell being monitored can be representative of other cells that are part of a battery pack consisting of multiple cells connected in series, parallel, or a combination. Real time data from the ultrasonic transducer and receiver are used to non-destructively evaluate the internal condition of vital interfaces inside the cell. These interfaces are located between the anode current collector and anode active material, the cathode current collector and cathode material. The inter-electrode gap inside the battery is also measured. Information about the change in state or degradation at these interfaces can be an input into the prediction of the remaining life of the complete battery pack. Real-time measurements from the ultrasonic transducer can be utilized to update a degradation model on a battery management system.