LITHIUM-ION BATTERY THERMAL RUNAWAY + FAILURE ANALYSIS

A manufacturing client recently acquired a global business with product lines that primarily use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for portable power. The company reported a fire in one of their customer's facilities with indications that this fire was not the first. The root cause of the previous fires were never determined, but with the evidence collected, we confirmed that one or more cells in the battery pack failed and ignited.

Upon further failure analysis in our Fort Wayne Electronics lab, the lithium-ion batteries were tested and revealed that the battery management system (BMS) was not working properly. We then advised the client that the batteries had to be brought back and replaced. We are currently working directly with the client on a replacement battery back solution, helping them to both define the proper design parameters and verify them prior to fielding to prevent lithium-ion battery thermal runaway and failure.