High-Frequency Induction Heating: A Breakthrough for Reliable Thermal Runaway Triggering in Battery Safety Testing

This study presents a breakthrough in battery safety
testing by
developing high-frequency induction heating as a rapid, reliable,
and standardized method for triggering thermal runaway (TR) in lithium-ion
batteries (LIBs). Addressing the limitations of conventional techniques
(e.g., nail penetration, external heating), this approach leverages
the skin effect and magnetic shielding to achieve localized heating
power density (>242.5 W/cm2) with millisecond precision,
inducing TR across multiple commercial formats (prismatic, pouch,
cylindrical) while consuming <1% of cell capacity. Experimental
and multiphysics simulations demonstrate its exceptional repeatability,
revealing localized current densities up to 4.0 × 105 A/cm2 and TR initiation within seconds. This layer-by-layer
heating mechanism ensures minimal collateral damage, validated in
high-safety lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and NMC cells, and addresses
critical gaps in testing batteries (e.g., solid-state, sodium-ion).
As global regulations (GB 38031, IEC 62619) evolve, this work proposes
induction heating as a standardized solution, offering 100% TR initiation
success and precise propagation control.