Sundararajan Natarajan

Abstract:

In this paper, we study the effects of stress-diffusion interactions on the fracture behaviour and the crack growth of Lithium ion battery electrodes. A coupled mechanical equilibrium and Lithium diffusion accounting for the effect of stress on diffusion and the effect of advancement of the front to the crack growth is considered. The discontinuous fields are represented independent of the mesh within the framework of the XFEM and linear elastic fracture mechanics. The advancing front is represented by the level sets and the stress distribution and the fracture parameters are estimated to understand the stress development during lithiation. The fracturing is simulated based on the maximum principal stress criterion. The numerical results are compared with available experimental results. The proposed framework will provide insights into understanding the failure and degradation of the electrodes under potentiostatic and galvanostatic conditions. The influence of the particle size and shape on the fracture parameters and the stress distribution is also investigated.