An Overview of Ultrasonic Signature-Based Lithium-Ion Battery Health Monitoring

Ultrasonic inspection, as one of the most significant non-destructive testing techniques, has gained popularity in the last decades. By means of high-frequency sound waves to inspect materials or objects for defects, flaws or variations, ultrasonic testing (UT) can identify physical properties such as thickness, distance, elasticity of materials, etc. In recent years, UT has been applied in diagnosing and health monitoring in the renewable energy industry with its advantages of sensing internal defects, flaws, and degradation in the batteries. The paper reviews the theory and principles of ultrasonic inspection, and its applications with ultrasonic signatures in the field of battery testing. In order to investigate the interior mechanical changes of different layers inside lithium-ion battery, Finite element simulations with continuous sinewave signals are performed to validate the availability of UT inspections applied in lithium-ion battery health monitoring. It can be verified that the signal amplitude and time-of-flight (ToF) of the response signal on the receiver are varied based on the SOC changes, which means that health and performance conditions of the lithium battery can be further estimated by detecting mechanical property changes with ultrasonic testing approaches, Then, challenges and potential opportunities for its academic and commercial values are also discussed. With its non-intrusive, environment-friendly and economical features, ultrasonic methods are expected to have a promising future.