Archives for Technical Sciences | 2026
Authors: Hashim I.M.
DOI: 10.70102/afts.2026.1835.598
Journal: Archives for Technical Sciences
Year: 2026
Publisher: Technical institute of Bijeljina
Document Type: Article
Open Access: All Open Access; Gold Open Access
Cited by: 0
Problem: Lithium-ion batteries are normally inhibited by mechanical degradation under the influence of diffusion that leads to rapid charging of the batteries. The non-uniform lithium concentration gradients, which trigger internal strain, bending, and interfacial failure, contribute to this problem in thick, porous electrodes. While these risks are well-known, there remains a critical gap in existing research for a macro-scale framework that can link practical fabrication parameters to mechanical stability in a computationally efficient way. Methodology: To bridge this gap, developed a coupled chemo-thermo-mechanical macro-scale model designed to quantify electrode stability during cycling. This model is a combination of the second law of Fick, wherein eigenstrain is caused by lithiation, and the elastic-viscoplastic deformation is considered, but the thermal effects are also considered. Also tested the model using a synthetic dataset, the interaction between electrode thickness (50–200 5 C) and the charging rates (0.5 C–5 C), and discretized the model with finite differentiation. Results: Results indicate that peak von Mises stress increases nonlinearly with both C-rate and electrode thickness. At charging rates above 2–3C, peak stress is more than 60% higher than quasi-static values. Thermal coupling further amplifies peak stress by 10–20%, while an ablation study confirms that viscoelastic relaxation is critical, as its removal increases predicted peak stress by 32%. Conclusion: The model provides a computationally efficient screening tool for optimizing electrode layouts such as thickness and porosity before undergoing rigorous micro-scale simulations. By utilizing the Damköhler number and a specialized fracture index, the framework successfully identifies mechanically safe operating windows to mitigate interfacial delamination during fast-charging protocols. © 2026, Technical institute of Bijeljina. All rights reserved.
battery mechanics; chemo-mechanical coupling; deformation; electrode curvature; fast charging c-rate; lithiation-induced stress; porous electrode