A comprehensive review of thermal runaway for batteries: experimental; modelling, challenges and proposed framework

Recognizing a gap in thermal runaway modeling methods, this review presents a comprehensive analysis of key aspects, including cell chemistry, capacity, form factor, state of charge, simulation tools, experimentation techniques, and critical predicted parameters, along with major research findings. The developed workflow is categorized into physics-based and data-driven methods, further divided into experimental and modeling approaches. Additionally, a framework for simulating a cell-level thermal runaway scenario, predicting temperature and internal pressure evolution, is proposed. Critical parameters such as the onset of self-heating, trigger point, maximum temperature, venting point, and cell’s instantaneous self-heating rate, which are fundamental to assessing damage in venting, off-gas flammability, and thermal propagation studies are examined. Finally, research gaps and challenges in both modeling approaches are discussed, including exothermic heat quantification from different experiments, volumetric expansion due to gas release, errors in vapor pressure rise estimation from electrolyte solvents, ambiguity in short-circuit heat consideration during separator meltdown, and variations in manufacturing processes affecting cell anode and cathode morphology.