NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA Battery Enclosures for Advanced Safety and Thermal (BEAST) Advanced Battery Pack Technologies By Dr. Pankaj Dhussa

1. Battery Enclosures for Advanced Safety and Thermal (BEAST)
Advanced Battery Pack Technologies
Challenge
- Next-generation electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) vehicle
concepts require batteries with very high specific energy
- Cell-level energy advancements are not fully realized at the
battery pack level due to heavy integrated thermal
management and packaging
- Traditional battery packaging concepts use bulky metal
cases and are not designed to withstand bending forces
when integrated into unique areas of an aircraft
Work progression includes modeling, material
design, cell & pack testing, and vehicle integration
Expected Impacts
- Higher specific energy battery packs
- Improved battery thermal management
- Pack designs compatible with the unique
limitations and environments of aircraft
- Mitigation and prevention of adverse events
caused by catastrophic battery failures
Partners
- NASA Glenn Research Center
- NASA ARMD, Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program,
Transformational Tools and Technologies
- NASA ARMD – Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program –
Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Project – Subsonic
Single Aft eNgine Electrofan (SUSAN)
Solution
- Paired modeling efforts with experimental efforts for materials,
cells, and pack designs
- Advanced materials development for combined pack cooling
and thermal runaway prevention, such as aerogels and phase
change materials
- Integration and assessment of next-generation in-house and
industry-developed battery chemistries
- Rapid turn-around of design concepts with applicability across
multiple vehicle designs
Results
- Completed materials, cell, and battery module design assessments
to identify performance and thermal management improvements
- Ongoing assessment of bending survivability under wing-type loads
- Identified design gaps for next battery module design phase
development phase
Assess effects of advanced materials
and designs during normal operation and
safety/abuse events
Pack-level bending tests to assess survivability of
wing integration
Next Steps
- Integration of next-generation thermal materials, cell
chemistries, and other design factors
- Continued design safety assessments with respect to battery
thermal runaway
- Ongoing module and thermal designs to meet the requirements of
the Research Aircraft for eVTOL Enabling techNologies (RAVEN)
Chemical and
Material Design
Microstructure
to Cell Design
Module
to Pack
Design
Vehicle
Integration
POC: Patricia Loyselle, NASA Glenn Research Center