In Situ Measurement of Dynamic Internal Short Circuit Resistance during Nail Penetration of Lithium-Ion Cells and its Implications on Cell Robustness and Abuse Tolerance

Here we report a method for in situ measurement of internal short circuit (ISC) resistance during nail penetration testing of lithium-ion cells. The method is demonstrated with dry cells, wet dummy cells, and working cells using a small nail and slow penetration speed. ISC current and ISC temperature are also measured during the tests. It is confirmed that the ISC resistance changes dramatically, by several orders of magnitude, during nail penetration. More importantly, it is found that the stable resistance after full penetration is much higher than the lowest dynamic resistance at earlier stages of nail penetration. Analysis based on such a stable ISC resistance would underestimate the risk of thermal runaway during nail penetration tests. It is also found that ISC in some cases may be mitigated due to melting or rupture of aluminum foil surrounding the nail, implying a mechanism that may be able to be used towards the design of more robust/abuse tolerant Li-ion cells. Lastly, it is found that nail penetration using a larger nail reduces ISC resistance during penetration of cells but the general behaviors of ISC resistance are similar to those during smaller nail penetration.