Effect of local velocity on diffusion-induced stress in large-deformation electrodes of lithium-ion batteries

•The effect of local velocity is introduced into the diffusion equation.•The effect of local velocity on DIS in a spherical electrode is analyzed.•The immobile surface likely retards mechanical degradation.

In this work, the contribution of local velocity to the resultant flux of lithium in lithium-ion battery is introduced into the diffusion equation to describe the migration of lithium in the active material of electrodes. The effect of the local velocity on the stress evolution in a spherical electrode made of silicon is analyzed, using the derived diffusion equation and nonlinear theory of elasticity. Two boundary conditions at the surface of the electrode, which represent two extreme conditions of real electrode materials, are used in the stress analysis: one is stress-free, and the other is immobile. The numerical results with the stress-free boundary condition suggest that the effect of the local velocity on the distribution of radial stress and hoop stress increases with the increase of time and the effect of the local velocity on the distribution of lithium is relatively small. In comparison with the results without the effect of the local velocity, the effect of the local velocity is negligible for the immobile boundary condition. The numerical result shows that the use of the immobile boundary condition leads to the decrease of von-Mises stress, which likely will retard the mechanical degradation of electrode and improve the electrochemical performance of lithium-ion battery.