INTRODUCTION TO

Battery Design Module

Introduction to the Battery Design Module
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Part number: CM021502

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Battery Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Detailed Cell Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Lumped Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The Battery Modeling Physics Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Physics Interface Guide by Space Dimension and Study Type. 14
Tutorial of a Lithium-Ion Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Model Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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4|
Introduction

The Battery Design Module offers a wide range of functionality for modeling and
simulation of batteries: from the fundamental processes in the electrodes and
electrolytes of batteries to cell-to-cell temperature and current distributions in
battery packs. These simulations may involve the transport of charged and neutral
species, current conduction, fluid flow, heat transfer, and electrochemical
reactions in porous electrodes.
You can use this module to investigate the performance of batteries at different
operating conditions and for different electrode configurations, separators,
current collectors and feeders, materials, and chemistry. The description of the
involved processes and phenomena may be defined in a fairly detailed manner,
whereby you can apply different hypotheses to gain an understanding of the
investigated systems. With these detailed models you can study the influence of
different electrode materials, pore distribution, electrolyte composition, and other
fundamental parameters on various aspects such as battery performance, as well as
capacity and power fade.
The module also allows for more lumped (“black-box”) modeling approaches
where detailed knowledge of the battery chemistry is not required. Such lumped
models can be used for investigating cell-to-cell dynamics in packs, thermal
management, as well as battery dynamics in electrical circuit simulations. The small
set of parameters used in lumped models are well suited for fitting to load-cycle
experimental data, and parameter estimation tools, using optimization solvers, are
also included in the Battery Design Module.
You can couple the battery models to other physics such as heat transfer, fluid
flow, structural mechanics, and chemical species transport in order to study
phenomena like aging, heat dissipation effects and stress-strain relationships.

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Figure 1: The 3D physics interfaces for the Battery Design Module, as shown in the Model Wizard, with
the Electrochemistry branch fully expanded.

The figure above shows the available physics interface in the Battery Design
Module under the Electrochemistry ( ) branch. These electrochemistry
interfaces are based on the conservation of current, charge, chemical species, and
energy. The Battery Interfaces form the basis for battery cell and pack modeling.
The Chemical Species Transport ( ), the Fluid Flow ( ) and the Heat
Transfer ( ) interfaces are extended with functionality for battery modeling, for
instance features for handling porous media. The different physics interfaces are
further discussed below.

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Battery Modeling

The Battery Design Module has a number of physics interfaces to model batteries.
Choice of physics interface depends on the overall purpose of the model.

Detailed Cell Models

When studying the cell chemistry, aging, or high charge-discharge rates one
typically resolves the different layers of the battery using space-dependent models
on a micrometer scale, whereas coarser models for computing heat sources or
predicting the voltage behavior for low or moderate charge-discharge rates may
use a more lumped modeling approach.
Space-dependent battery models often model unit cells that consist of:
a) Current collectors and current feeders
b) Porous or solid metal electrodes
c) The electrolyte that separates the anode and cathode
To exemplify, we describe some of the charge and discharge processes in a
rechargeable battery below.

Current in negative electrode

Current in the electrolyte
Current in positive electrode
Anodic charge transfer reaction
Cathodic charge transfer
reaction

iloc Negative electrode Positive electrode

iloc, a Ecell
E
iloc, c
negative electrode positive electrode
Anode Cathode

Figure 2: Direction of the current and charge transfer current during discharge in a battery with porous
electrodes.

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During discharge, chemical energy is transferred to electric energy in the charge
transfer reactions at the anode and cathode. The conversion of chemical to electric
energy during discharge may involve electrochemical reactions, transport of
electric current, transport of ions and neutral species in the electrolyte, mass
transport in the electrode particles, fluid flow, and the release of heat in irreversible
losses, such as ohmic losses and losses due to activation energies.
Figure 2 shows a schematic picture of the discharge process. The current enters the
cell from the current feeder at the negative electrode. The charge transfer reaction
occurs at the interface between the electrode material and electrolyte contained in
the porous electrode, also called the pore electrolyte. Here, an oxidation of the
electrode material may take place through an anodic charge transfer reaction,
denoted iloc, a in Figure 2. The shapes of the two curves in the graph are described
by the electrode kinetics for the specific materials. The reaction may also involve
the transport of chemical species from the pore electrolyte and also from the
electrode particles.
From the pore electrolyte, the current is conducted by the transport of ions
through the electrolyte that separates the positive and negative electrode (via
separator or reservoir) to the pore electrolyte in the positive electrode.
At the interface between the pore electrolyte and the surface of the particles in the
porous electrode, the charge transfer reaction transfers the electrolyte current to
current conducted by electrons in the positive electrode. At this interface, a
reduction of the electrode material takes place through a cathodic charge transfer
reaction, denoted iloc, c in Figure 3. Also here, the charge transfer reaction may
involve the transport of chemical species in the electrolyte and in the electrode
particles.
iloc
Negative electrode Positive electrode

iloc, a
Ecell

E
iloc, c

Eocv
Anode Cathode

Figure 3: Electrode polarization during discharge. The figure is same as inset of Figure 2.

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The current leaves the cell through the current collector. The conduction of
current and the electrochemical charge transfer reactions also release heat due to
ohmic losses, activation losses, and other irreversible processes.
The graph in Figure 3 plots the charge transfer current density, iloc, as a function
of the electrode potential, E. These curves describe the polarization of the
electrodes during discharge.
The negative electrode is polarized anodically during discharge, a positive current
as indicated by the arrow in Figure 3. The potential of the negative electrode
increases. The positive electrode is polarized cathodically, a negative current as
indicated by the arrow. The potential of the positive electrode decreases.
Consequently, Figure 3 also shows that the potential difference between the
electrodes, here denoted Ecell, decreases during discharge compared to the open
cell voltage, here denoted Eocv. The value of Ecell is the cell voltage at a given
current iloc, if the ohmic losses in the cell are negligible. This is usually not the case
in most batteries. This implies that the cell voltage in most cases is slightly smaller
than that shown in Figure 3.
During charge, the processes are reversed; see Figure 4. Electric energy is
transformed to chemical energy that is stored in the battery.

Current in negative electrode

Current in the electrolyte
Current in positive electrode
Cathodic charge transfer reaction
Anodic charge transfer reaction

iloc Negative electrode Positive electrode

iloc, a
Ecell
E
iloc, c
Negative electrode Positive electrode
Cathode Anode

Figure 4: During charge, the positive electrode acts as the anode while the negative one acts as the
cathode. The cell voltage increases (at a given current) compared to the open cell voltage. Note: direction
of the currents is reversed here.

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The current enters the cell at the positive electrode. Here, during charge, an
oxidation of the products takes place through an anodic charge transfer reaction.
The positive electrode is polarized anodically, with a positive current, and the
electrode potential increases.
The current is then conducted via pore electrolyte, through the electrolyte in a
separator (or a reservoir) that separates the electrodes, to the negative electrode.
In the negative electrode, a reduction of the products from the previous discharge
reaction takes place through a cathodic charge transfer reaction. The negative
electrode is polarized cathodically and the electrode potential decreases.

iloc Negative electrode Positive electrode

iloc, a
Ecell

iloc, c

Eocv
Cathode Anode

Figure 5: Electrode polarization during charge.

The difference in potential between the electrodes, here denoted Ecell, at a given
iloc, increases during charge, compared to the open cell voltage, here denoted Eocv;
see Figure 5. The value of Ecell is equal to the cell voltage when ohmic losses are
neglected. In most cells, these losses are not negligible and they would add to the
cell voltage.
The battery processes and phenomena described in the figures above can all be
investigated using the Battery Design Module. The physics interfaces included in
the module allow you to investigate the influence on battery performance and
thermal management of parameters such as the:
• Choice of materials and chemistry
• Dimensions and geometry of the current collectors and feeders
• Dimension and geometry of the electrodes
• Size of the particles that the porous electrodes are made of
• Porosity and specific surface area of the porous electrode
• Configuration of the battery components

10 |
• The kinetics of interfacial and bulk reactions
• Potential or applied current dependent load cycles
• Aging of electrochemical cells

Lumped Models
When modeling larger systems such as a battery pack, including detailed
geometrical details of the individual battery layers, electrode structures and
chemistry may not be practical from a modeling point of view. Many details about
the battery cell may not be known to the modeler, and numerical constraints
(memory and computational time) may favor less complex models. For these cases
one often replaces the detailed cell model by simpler zero-dimensional cell
elements, forming an equivalent circuit, lumped battery or single particle model.
For instance, instead of a detailed mass and charge balance of charge-carrying ions
in the electrolyte phase along the length of the negative electrode, the separator,
and the positive electrode, all voltage contributions from these phenomena are
lumped into a single resistor.
In a battery pack model a number of these zero-dimensional models for each
battery cell are then combined to define the cell-to-cell current distribution of the
pack.

The Battery Modeling Physics Interfaces

The Lithium-Ion Battery interface ( ) is tailored detailed modeling of
lithium-ion batteries using liquid electrolytes and includes functionality that
describes the transport of charged species in porous electrodes, electrolyte,
intercalation reactions in electrodes, binders, charge transfer reactions, internal
particle diffusion, temperature dependence of transport quantities, aging
mechanism, and the solid electrolyte interface (SEI).
The Lithium-Ion Battery, Single-Ion Conductor interface ( ) is similar to the
above interface, but uses a different default for charge-balance equation in the
electrolyte, typically suitable for solid electrolytes.
The Battery with Binary Electrolyte interface ( ) describes the conduction of
electric current in the electrodes, the charge transfer reactions in the porous
electrodes, the mass transport of ions in the pore electrolyte and in the electrolyte
that separates the electrodes, and the intercalation of species in the particles that
form the porous electrodes. The descriptions are available for cells with basic
aqueous binary electrolytes, which for instance covers nickel-metal hydride and
nickel-cadmium batteries.
The Lumped Battery interface ( ) defines a battery model based on a small set
of lumped parameters, requiring no knowledge of the internal structure or design

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of the battery electrodes, or choice of materials. Models created with the Lumped
Battery interface can typically be used to monitor the state-of-charge and the
voltage response of a battery during a load cycle. The interface also defines a
battery heat source that may be coupled to a Heat Transfer interface for modeling
battery cooling and thermal management.
The Lumped Battery, Two Electrodes interface ( ) offers a slightly more
advanced definition of the battery model where each electrode material is handled
individually, but still in a lumped context. It accounts for solid diffusion in the
electrode particles, the intercalation electrode reaction kinetics and ohmic
potential drop in the separator using a lumped solution resistance term. Models
defined in this way are also known as single-particle models in literature.
The Battery Equivalent Circuit ( ) can be used to define a battery model based
on an arbitrary number of electrical circuit elements. Models created with the
Battery Equivalent Circuit can typically be used to monitor the state-of-charge and
the voltage response of a battery during a load cycle. When selecting the Battery
Equivalent Circuit in the Model Wizard, this adds an Electrical Circuit ( )
interface to the model, including a number of predefined circuit elements that are
used to define the open circuit voltage, the load current and an internal resistance.
You can add additional circuit elements such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors.
The Lead-Acid Battery interface ( ) is tailored for this type of battery and
includes functionality that describes the transport of charged species, charge
transfer reactions, the variation of porosity due to charge and discharge, and the
average superficial velocity of the electrolyte caused by the change in porosity.
The Battery Pack interface ( ) features a one-to-many approach for setting up
multiple lumped battery models and for connecting them in a 3D geometry. The
Battery Pack interface is typically used together with a heat transfer interface for
modeling of thermal pack management. The interface also includes thermal
events, which can be used to study thermal runaway propagation problems.
The current distribution interfaces are generic electrochemical cell interfaces. The
Tertiary Current Distribution, Nernst-Planck interface ( ) describes the
transport of charged species in diluted electrolytes through diffusion, migration,
and convection. In addition, it also includes ready-made formulations for porous
and nonporous electrodes, including charge transfer reactions and current
conduction in the electronic conductors.
The Concentrated Electrolyte Transport interface ( ) is a generic interface for
defining electrolyte transport. The electrolyte transport model is based on
concentrated solution theory and can be applied to any type of electrochemical cell
for an arbitrary number of electrolyte species, for instance cells based on
molten-salt or ionic-liquid electrolytes. The Lithium-Ion, Battery with Binary
Electrolyte and Lead-Acid interfaces mentioned above all make use of variants of

12 |
concentrated solution theory for specific ternary (anion/cation/solvent)
electrolyte systems.
The Chemical Species Transport interfaces ( ) can be used to describe for
instance the transport of trace ions in the pore electrolyte and in the electrolyte
that separates the anode and cathode. Reactions other than pure electrochemical
reactions can be added to, for example, describe the degradation of materials.
The Chemistry interface ( ), found within the Chemical Species Transport
branch, can be used to define systems of reacting species, electrode reactions and
ordinary chemical reactions. As such, it serves as a reaction kinetics and material
property provider to the space-dependent transport interfaces, such as the Tertiary
Current Distribution, Nernst–Planck interface, or Transport of Diluted Species
interface.
The Fluid Flow interfaces ( ) describe the fluid flow in the porous electrodes
and in free media if this is relevant for a specific type of battery, for example, certain
types of lead-acid batteries.
The Heat Transfer in Porous Media interface ( ) describes heat transfer in the
cells. This includes the effects of Joule heating in the electrode material and in the
electrolyte, heating due to activation losses in the electrochemical reactions, and
of the net change of entropy. The heat from reactions other than the
electrochemical reactions can also be described by these physics interfaces. The
heat transfer interfaces are also extended with tailor-made functionality for
homogenization of layered battery materials, which are typically used in thermal
simulations of battery packs.
The Solid Mechanics interface ( ) is extended with functionality for modeling
electrode strain due to, for instance, lithium intercalation in graphite electrodes.

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Physics Interface Guide by Space Dimension and Study
Type

The table lists the physics interfaces available in the Battery Design Module in
addition to those included with the COMSOL basic license.

PHYSICS INTERFACE ICON TAG SPACE AVAILABLE STUDY TYPE

DIMENSION

Chemical Species Transport

Transport of Diluted tds all dimensions stationary; time dependent

Species
Transport of Concentrated tcs all dimensions stationary; time dependent
Species
Chemistry chem all dimensions stationary; time dependent

Nernst–Planck–Poisson tds+es all dimensions stationary; time dependent;

Equations stationary source sweep;
small-signal analysis,
frequency domain
Electrophoretic Transport el all dimensions stationary; stationary with
initialization; time
dependent; time dependent
with initialization
Transport of Diluted tds all dimensions stationary; time dependent
Species in Porous Media
Transport of Concentrated tcs all dimensions stationary; time dependent
Species in Porous Media
Surface Reactions sr all dimensions stationary (3D, 2D, and 2D
axisymmetric models only);
time dependent
Transport of Diluted dsf 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent
Species in Fractures axisymmetric
Reacting Flow

Laminar Flow, Diluted — 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent

Species axisymmetric

14 |
PHYSICS INTERFACE ICON TAG SPACE AVAILABLE STUDY TYPE
DIMENSION

Laminar Flow, — 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent

Concentrated Species axisymmetric
Reacting Flow in Porous Media

Transport of Diluted — 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent

Species axisymmetric
Transport of — 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent
Concentrated Species axisymmetric
Nonisothermal Reacting Flow

Brinkman Equations — 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent

axisymmetric
Laminar Flow — 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent
axisymmetric
Electrochemistry

Primary Current cd all dimensions stationary; stationary with

Distribution initialization; time
dependent; time dependent
Secondary Current with initialization; AC
Distribution impedance, initial values; AC
impedance, stationary; AC
impedance, time dependent
Tertiary Current tcd all dimensions stationary; stationary with
Distribution, Nernst–Planck initialization; time
(Electroneutrality, dependent; time dependent
Water-Based with with initialization; AC
Electroneutrality, impedance, initial values; AC
Supporting Electrolyte, impedance, stationary; AC
Poisson) impedance, time dependent
Concentrated Electrolyte cet all dimensions stationary; stationary with
Transport initialization; time
dependent; time dependent
with initialization;

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PHYSICS INTERFACE ICON TAG SPACE AVAILABLE STUDY TYPE
DIMENSION

Electroanalysis tcd all dimensions stationary; time dependent;

AC impedance, initial values;
AC impedance, stationary;
AC impedance, time
dependent; cyclic
voltammetry
Electrode, Shell els 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent
axisymmetric
Battery Interfaces

Lithium-Ion Battery liion all dimensions stationary; time dependent;

(Binary 1:1 Liquid AC impedance, initial values;
Electrolyte, AC impedance, stationary;
Single-Ion Conductor) AC impedance, time
dependent
Battery with Binary batbe all dimensions stationary; time dependent;
Electrolyte AC impedance, initial values;
AC impedance, stationary;
AC impedance, time
dependent
Lead–Acid Battery leadbat all dimensions stationary; time dependent;
AC impedance, initial values;
AC impedance, stationary;
AC impedance, time
dependent
Lumped Battery lb all dimensions time dependent; AC
impedance, initial values;
Battery Equivalent ec Not space stationary; time dependent;
Circuit dependent frequency domain
Battery Pack bp 3D time dependent

Fluid Flow

Porous Media and Subsurface Flow

Brinkman Equations br 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent

axisymmetric

16 |
PHYSICS INTERFACE ICON TAG SPACE AVAILABLE STUDY TYPE
DIMENSION

Darcy’s Law dl all dimensions stationary; time dependent

Free and Porous Media fp 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent

Flow, Brinkman axisymmetric
Free and Porous Media — 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent
Flow, Darcy axisymmetric
Nonisothermal Flow

Brinkman Equations — 3D, 2D, 2D stationary; time dependent;

axisymmetric stationary, one-way NITF;
time dependent, one-way
NITF
Heat Transfer

Heat Transfer in Porous ht all dimensions stationary; time dependent

Media

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Tutorial of a Lithium-Ion Battery

The following tutorial defines a three-dimensional model of a lithium-ion battery

pouch cell. In the pouch battery cell design, all current exits the cell on the cell
“tabs”, and as the cell size and power increases, the voltage gradients in the highly
conductive metal foil current collectors may come into play, resulting in a
nonuniform current distribution and electrode utilization in the cell. A
nonuniform utilization results in suboptimal use of the battery electrodes and may
also result in nonuniform and accelerated electrode aging.
The aim of the tutorial is to get acquainted to the most common features in the
Lithium-Ion Battery interface for battery modeling, and to investigate the current
distribution and electrode utilization in a large format lithium-ion battery pouch
cell.
(A more common, and computationally more favorable, approach for battery
modeling is often to define the model geometry in 1D, and as we will see in this
tutorial, this is often a valid approximation. Tutorials featuring more conventional
geometries are available in the Battery Design Module Application Library.)
The model defines and solves the current and material balances in the lithium-ion
battery. The intercalation of lithium inside the particles in the porous electrodes is
solved using a fourth independent variable r for the particle radius (x, y, and t are
the other three). The reaction kinetics and the intercalation are coupled to the
material and current balances at the surface of the particles. The model equations
are found in the Battery Design Module User’s Guide. The model was originally
formulated for 1D simulations by John Newman and his coworkers at the
University of California at Berkeley. The original 1D model is popularly known as
pseudo-2D model (or P2D model) in literature, for our 3D case the
corresponding popular name would be P4D.

18 |
Model Definition
The cell geometry is shown in the figure below. Note that all plots are scaled 100
times in the z direction due to the high aspect ratio of the geometric features.

Model geometry, scaled 100 times in the z direction.

The geometry defines one foil-to-foil unit cell, stacking five layers in the z
direction:
• Negative metal current collector foil: 10 mm, Cu (due to symmetry, half of
this thickness is used in the model geometry)
• Negative electrode: 60 mm, graphite
• Separator: 30 mm
• Positive electrode: 60 mm, LMO
• Positive metal current collector foil: 10 mm, Al (due to symmetry, half of
this thickness is used in the model geometry)
The electrolyte is LiPF6 dissolved in the organic solvents EC and EMC at a 3:7
ratio.
Symmetry is assumed along the center of the cell.
The positive and negative current terminals are located opposite to each other (but
may easily be placed on the same side by altering the Geometry node in the
model).

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The Lithium-Ion Battery interface is used to set up the physics, using Material data
from the Battery Material Library. After finishing the modeling instructions later
the part of the model tree defining the materials and physics will look as below.

Figure 6: Part of the model tree defining the materials and physics.

The Particle Intercalation subnodes to the Porous Electrode nodes model the
solid lithium concentration in an additional particle dimension (extra dimension).
The SOC and Initial Cell Charge Distribution node is used to set the initial cell
state of charge.
An Electrode Ground boundary condition is used on the negative tab whereas an
Electrode Current boundary condition defines the cell current exiting the cell on
the positive tab.
A time-dependent solver is used to simulate the charging from a 20% to 90% cell
state of charge at a rate of 4 C. (A 1 C rate corresponds to the charge or discharge
current required to fully charge or discharge the battery in 1 h).

R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION

The figure below shows the simulated cell voltage vs time.

20 |
Cell voltage vs time.

The two following figures show the potential distribution in the negative and
positive metal foils (current collector and tab) at the end of the 4C charge.

Potential distribution in the negative metal foil at the end of the 4C charge.

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Potential distribution in the positive metal foil at the end of the 4C charge.

The potential variation is about 5 mV in the negative current collector and 9 mV

in the positive current collector at the 4C charge current. For a 1C charge current
the corresponding potential variation would be below 2 mV (results not shown
here).
The two figures below show the electrolyte current magnitude for a cross section
in the middle of the separator at the beginning and end of the 4C charge,
respectively. This provides a measure of the electrode utilization for a given time.
The current distribution varies about 6% in the separator plane over time. For 1C,
the variation would be generally smaller (results not shown here). Initially, the
separator current density is higher close to the tabs whereas toward the end of the
charge, the current density is higher in the central parts of the cell.

22 |
Current density magnitude in the middle of the separator at the beginning of the 4C charge.

Current density magnitude in the middle of the separator at the end of the 4C charge.

The following instructions show how to formulate, solve, and reproduce this
model.

| 23
Model Wizard

1 To start the software, double-click the COMSOL Multiphysics icon on the

desktop. When the software opens, you can choose to use the Model Wizard to
create a new COMSOL Multiphysics model or Blank Model to create one
manually. For this tutorial, click the Model Wizard button.
If COMSOL Multiphysics is already open, you can start the Model Wizard by
selecting New from the File menu and then click Model Wizard .
2 From the File menu, choose New.
3 In the New window, click Model Wizard.
4 In the Model Wizard window, click 3D.
5 In the Select Physics tree, select Electrochemistry > Batteries >
Lithium-Ion Battery (liion) and click Add.

6 Click Study.
7 In the Select Study tree, select Preset Studies for Selected Physics Interfaces >
Time Dependent with Initialization.
8 Click Done.

24 |
G e o me t r y 1

The model geometry is available as a parameterized geometry sequence in a

separate MPH-file. Load it from file with the following steps.
1 In the Geometry toolbar, click Insert Sequence and choose Insert Sequence.

2 Browse to the model’s Application Libraries folder and double-click the file
pouch_cell_utilization_geom_sequence.mph. Note that the location of the
files used in this exercise may vary depending on the installation. For example,
if the installation is on your hard drive, the file path might be similar to C:\
Program Files\COMSOL\COMSOL63\Multiphysics\applications\
Battery_Design_Module\Lithium-Ion_Batteries,_Performance\.

3 In the Geometry toolbar, click Build All.

4 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 click Geometry 1.

| 25
5 Since the geometry has now been finalized, you may now collapse the
Geometry 1 node in the Model Builder window.

C h a n g e t h e S ca l i n g o f t h e G r ap h i cs W i n d o w

The cell geometry has a high aspect ratio, with the

cell thicknesses being very small in relation to the
cross-sectional area. To facilitate setting up the
physics, change the scaling in the z direction as
follows:

Camera
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the
Component 1 > Definitions node, expand the
View 1 node, then click Camera.
2 In the Settings window for Camera, locate the Camera section.
3 From the View scale list, choose Manual.
4 In the z scale text field, type 100.
5 Click Update.

26 |
Global Definitions

Parameters
Some parameters were loaded with the geometry
sequence into the Parameters 1 node.
1 In the Model Builder window, under
Global Definitions click Parameters 1.
2 In the Settings window for Parameters, type
Geometry Parameters in the Label text field to
rename it.
Add some more parameters from a text file.
1 In the Home toolbar, click Parameters and choose Add > Parameters.

2 In the Settings window for the new Parameters

node, type Physics Parameters in the Label text
field.
3 Locate the Parameters section. Click
Load from File.

| 27
4 Browse to the model’s Application Libraries folder and double-click the file
pouch_cell_utilization_physics_parameters.txt.

Add Materials

Most of the required material parameters are available in the material libraries.
First add Copper and Aluminum for the current conductors.

1 In the Materials toolbar, click Add Material to open the Add Material
window.

28 |
2 Go to the Add Material window.
3 In the tree, select both Built-in > Aluminum
and Built-in > Copper.
4 Click the Add to Component button in the
window toolbar.

Next add the material properties for the electrolyte and electrode materials.
1 Go to the Add Material
window.
2 In the tree, select both
Battery > Electrodes >
Graphite, LixC6 MCMB (N
egative, Li-ion Battery) and
Battery > Electrodes >
LMO, LiMn2O4 Spinel (Po
sitive, Li-ion Battery).
3 Click the
Add to Component button
in the window toolbar.
4 Similarly, in the tree, select Battery > Electrolytes >
LiPF6 in 3:7 EC:EMC (Liquid, Li-ion Battery) and click the
Add to Component button in the window toolbar.
5 In the Materials toolbar, click Add Material to close the Add Material
window.
A red cross may show at the Aluminum node at this point, indicating missing
material [Link] is expected and will be fixed later when setting up the
physics. Also, no selection warnings may be seen at the other material nodes.

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Assign the Materials to the Domains of the Geometry

Assign the materials to the corresponding battery domains.

1 In the Model Builder window, click
Aluminum.

2 In the Settings window for

the Materials>Aluminum
node, locate the
Geometric Entity
Selection section.
3 From the Selection list,
choose
Positive Current Collector
and Tab.

The named selections that

appear in the list are created
under the Geometry node,
and were automatically
included in the geometry
sequence file you imported
earlier.
Proceed similarly for the other materials:
1 Click Copper, and in the corresponding Geometric Entity Selection section,
choose Negative Current Collector and Tab.
2 Click Graphite, LixC6 MCMB (Negative, Li-ion Battery) and choose
Negative Electrode.
3 Click LMO, LiMn2O4 Spinel (Positive, Li-ion Battery) and choose
Positive Electrode.
4 Click LiPF6 in 3:7 EC:EMC (Liquid, Li-ion Battery) and choose Separator.

30 |
Lithium-Ion Battery

The geometry has now been defined, and we have

imported the needed parameters. We are now ready
to start defining the actual physics of the problem.
The Separator node was added to the interface by
default.

Add and Define the Negative Electrode

Keep the default settings for the Separator, and
proceed to add and set up the physics in the porous
electrodes and current collectors.
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Domains and
choose Porous Electrode.
2 In the Settings window for Porous Electrode,
type Porous Electrode - Negative in the Label
text field.
3 Locate the Domain Selection section. From the Selection list, choose
Negative Electrode.
4 Locate the Electrolyte Properties section.
From the Electrolyte material list, choose
LiPF6 in 3:7 EC:EMC (Liquid, Li-ion B
attery) .
5 Locate the Electrode Properties section.
In the s text field, type sigmas_neg.
6 Locate the Porous Matrix Properties
section. In the s text field, type epss_neg.
7 In the l text field, type 1-epss_neg.

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Particle Intercalation 1
1 In the Model Builder window, click
Particle Intercalation 1.
2 In the Settings window for
Particle Intercalation, locate the
Particle Transport Properties section.
3 In the rp text field, type rp_neg.
Leave the settings of the Species Settings section
as is for now. The initial species concentration
setting will be made inactive later when we
define the cell state of charge on a different
node.

Porous Electrode Reaction 1

1 In the Model Builder window, click Porous Electrode Reaction 1.
2 In the Settings window for Porous Electrode Reaction, locate the
Electrode Kinetics section.
3 In the i0,ref(T) text field, type i0ref_neg.

Add and Define the Positive Electrode

Proceed similarly to define the positive electrode.
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Domains and
choose Porous Electrode and rename the node
by typing Porous Electrode - Positive in the
Label text field.
2 Locate the Domain Selection section. From the
Selection list, choose Positive Electrode.
3 Locate the Electrolyte Properties section. From
the Electrolyte material list, choose
LiPF6 in 3:7 EC:EMC (Liquid, Li-ion Battery.
4 Locate the Electrode Properties section. In the
s text field, type sigmas_pos.
5 Locate the Porous Matrix Properties section. In the s text field, type epss_pos.
6 In the l text field, type 1-epss_pos.

Particle Intercalation 1
1 Click Particle Intercalation 1 child node and in the
Particle Transport Properties section, in the rp text field, type rp_pos.

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Porous Electrode Reaction 1
1 Click Porous Electrode Reaction 1 and in the Electrode Kinetics section, type
i0ref_pos.

Current Conductor 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Domains and
choose Current Conductor.
2 In the Settings window for Current Conductor,
locate the Domain Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose
Metal Foil Domains.

Electric Ground 1
1 In the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and
choose Electric Ground.
2 In the Settings window for Electric Ground,
locate the Boundary Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose
Negative Tab End.

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Enable SOC and Initial Charge Distribution
1 Enable the Define cell state of charge (SOC) and initial charge inventory on the
Lithium-Ion Battery interface top node. This will allow us to set the initial SOC
of the battery cell.

Then set the initial state of charge of the cell as follows:

2 In the Model Builder window, click
SOC and Initial Charge Distribution 1.
3 In the Settings window for
SOC and Initial Charge Distribution,
locate the
Initial Cell Charge Distribution section.
4 In the SOC0 text field, type SOC_start.

Set the Electrode Domain Selections

1 In the Model Builder window, click
Negative Electrode Domain Selection 1.

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2 In the Settings window for Negative Electrode Domain Selection, locate the
Domain Selection section. From the Selection list, choose Negative Electrode.
Proceed similarly for the positive selection:
3 Click Positive Electrode Domain Selection 1, choose Positive Electrode.

Electrode Current 1
Enabling the SOC and Initial Charge
Distribution node means that the capacity of
the cell can be defined. Add the final current
boundary condition current based on a
C-rate multiple as follows:
1 In the Physics toolbar, click
Boundaries and choose
Electrode Current.
2 In the Settings window for
Electrode Current, locate the
Boundary Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Positive Tab End.
4 Locate the Electrode Current section. From the list, choose C-rate multiple.
5 In the Crate text field, type C_rate.

Me sh 1

Set up the mesh for the model. Use a mapped mesh on the top boundaries, and a
swept mesh for remaining of the geometry.

Add a Mapped on the Topmost Boundary

1 In the Mesh toolbar, click More Generators and choose Mapped.

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2 Select Boundary 20 only. (This is the topmost boundary of the geometry.)
3 Click Build Mesh.

Add a Swept Mesh

1 In the Mesh toolbar, click Swept.

Distribution of Mesh Elements in the Negative Electrode

1 Right-click Swept 1 and choose Distribution.

By the use of Distribution nodes you can control the resolution in the z
direction of the individual layers of the cell.
2 In the Settings window for Distribution, locate the Domain Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Negative Electrode.

36 |
4 Locate the Distribution section. From the Distribution type list, choose
Predefined.
5 In the Number of elements text field, type 15.
6 In the Element ratio text field, type 3.
Proceed similarly for the other domains, with different number of element and
ratio settings as follows:

Distribution of Mesh Elements in the Separator

1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Swept 1 and choose Distribution.
2 In the Settings window for Distribution, locate the Domain Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Separator.
4 Locate the Distribution section. In the Number of elements text field, type 4.
Keep the other default settings.

Distribution of Mesh Elements in the Positive Electrode

1 Right-click Swept 1 and choose Distribution.
2 In the Settings window for Distribution, locate the
Domain Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Positive Electrode.
4 Locate the Distribution section. From the
Distribution type list, choose Predefined.
5 In the Number of elements text field, type 15.
6 In the Element ratio text field, type 3.
7 Select the Reverse direction checkbox.

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8 Click Build Mesh.
The finalized mesh should now look as follows.

Definitions

Before solving, add also a probe for an automatically defined voltage variable
created by the Electrode Current condition at the positive tab. Since the negative
tab is grounded, this voltage corresponds to the cell voltage. The probe will store
the cell voltage for every time step taken by the solver in a table, and a dynamically
updated plot of the cell voltage will also be available while solving.

Cell Voltage Probe

1 In the Definitions toolbar, click Probes and
choose Global Variable Probe.
2 In the Settings window for Global Variable Probe,
type Cell Voltage Probe in the Label text field.

38 |
3 Click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of the Expression section.
From the menu, choose Component 1 (comp1) > Lithium-Ion Battery >
liion.phis0_ec1 - Electric potential on boundary - V.

4 Select the Description checkbox. In the associated text field, type Cell Voltage.

Study 1

The physics is now fully defined and ready for solving. Change the output times
based on the sim_time parameter to store the solution at the beginning of, half
way into, and at the end of the charge as follows:
1 In the Model Builder window, click
Step 2: Time Dependent.
2 In the Settings window for
Time Dependent, locate the
Study Settings section.
3 In the Output times text field, type 0 sim_time/2 sim_time.
4 In the Study toolbar, click Compute.
The model takes approximately 2-3 minutes to solve.

Results

A plot of the battery voltage versus time is created automatically by the probe you
added earlier.

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Rename the Default Probe Plot
1 In the Model Builder window,
under Results click
Probe Plot Group 1.
2 In the Settings window for
1D Plot Group, type Cell
Voltage Probe Plot in the
Label text field.
3 In the Cell Voltage Probe Plot
toolbar, click Plot.

Add a Plot Group for the Potential in Negative Current Collector and Tab
The following steps create a plot of the potential at the negative current collector
and tab.
1 In the Results toolbar, click 3D Plot Group to create a new plot group.

40 |
2 In the Settings window for
3D Plot Group, type
Potential in Negative
Current Collector and Tab
in the Label text field.
3 Click to expand the
Selection section. Select
Domain as Geometric entity
level and thereafter Negative
Current Collector and Tab
as Selection.
4 Locate the Color Legend
section. Select the
Show maximum and minim
um values checkbox.
5 Click to expand the
Number Format section.
Select the
Manual color legend setting
s checkbox.
6 In the Precision text field,
type 4.

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Add Volume Plot to Plot the Potential
1 Right-click
Potential in Negative Current Collector
and Tab and choose Volume.
2 In the Settings window for Volume,
locate the Expression section.
3 Click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of the Expression section.
From the menu, choose Component 1 (comp1) > Lithium-Ion Battery >
phis - Electric potential - V.
4 In the Potential in Negative Current Collector and Tab toolbar, click Plot.

Potential in Positive Current Collector and Tab

Duplicate the plot and modify the copy in order to view the potential at the
positive current collector and tab.
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click
Potential in Negative Current Collector and Tab and choose Duplicate.
2 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Potential in Positive
Current Collector and Tab in the Label text field.
3 In the Model Builder window, expand the
Potential in Positive Current Collector and Tab node.

42 |
4 Locate the Selection section. Select Positive Current Collector and Tab as
Selection and click Plot.

Current Density Across Separator at t=0 s

Plot the relative current density across the separator using a slice plot.
1 In the Results toolbar, click 3D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Current Density Across
Separator in the Label text field.
3 From the Time (s) list, choose 0.

| 43
Slice 1
1 Right-click
Current Density Across Separa
tor and choose Slice.
2 In the Settings window for
Slice, click Replace Expression
in the upper-right corner of the
Expression section. From the
menu, choose
Component 1 (comp1) >
Lithium-Ion Battery >
[Link] - Electrolyte curre
nt density magnitude - A/m².
3 Locate the Plane Data section.
From the Plane list, choose
XY-planes.
4 From the Entry method list, choose Coordinates.
5 In the Z-coordinates text field, type L_neg_cc/2+L_neg+L_sep/2.
6 In the Current Density Across Separator toolbar, click Plot.

Current Density Across Separator at t=630 s

1 In the Model Builder window, click Current Density Across Separator.
2 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, locate the Data section.

44 |
3 From the Time (s) list, choose 630.
4 In the Current Density Across Separator toolbar, click Plot.

Additional instructions for how to plot integrated measures of the electrode

utilization over the whole charge cycles, using general projection operators, can
be found toward the end of the modeling instructions for the Electrode
Utilization in a Large-Format Lithium-Ion Battery Pouch Cell tutorial found
in the Battery Design Application Library. There you also find a number of
other tutorials covering a multitude of cell chemistries and application areas.

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