These studies mentioned above, however, are mainly conducted based on the cycle life tests under one or more deterministic temperature levels, in which the high-precision temperature chamber and rigid data acquisition methods are required. Unlike the laboratory testing condition, cells in the field-use condition are usually run under complex temperature profiles. Previous researches indicate that the capacity fading process of Lithium-ion cells is significantly influenced by temperature [5,7,10]. In [10], capacity fading of Lithium-ion cells can be divided into true capacity fading and temporary capacity loss. True capacity fading leads to permanent capacity loss as a result of lithium ion and active material consuming, where high temperatures will accelerate the fading rate. On the other hand, temporary capacity loss is due to the temperature drop in a certain cycle, which is somewhat recoverable if the temperature goes back. A more accurate capacity fading model can be obtained by considering these temperature effects, especially for the cells operating under field-use conditions.However, because of the difficulty in modeling the complicated temperature effects, the existing papers regarding capacity fading modeling or cycle life prediction under complex temperature profiles are very rare. In most of them, the classic regression-based approach [6] is adopted, which assumes that field conditions are deterministic or to simply use the mean value of temperatures while ignore their variability. This approach may result in significant prediction errors. For predicting the cycle life of Lithium-ion cells without the temperature chamber, this paper proposes a cycle life prediction method considering complex temperature profiles, including a cycle life test plan and an improved capacity fading model.In our test, cells experience ambient temperature that continuously varies at all times. It will lead to the variance of cell capacity. The variance contains abundant information about cycle life and the relationship between cycle life and temperature. If we can effectively mine the information from the immense performance data using data modeling methods, the cycle life of Lithium-ion cells can be predicted accurately.In this paper, firstly, the cycle life test plan for Lithium-ion cells under complex temperature profiles is introduced. Then, the classic regression-based life prediction method which ignores temperature effects is reviewed. Based on the classic method, we establish a more accurate capacity fading model, by taking into account the effects of temperature on both the actual capacity fading and the temporal capacity loss. Using the data acquired from the cycle life test, the parameters of the model are estimated. At last, the cycle life of this type of Lithium-ion cells is predicted.
Experimental
Testing proceduresIn the cycle life test, 6 LiFePO 4 18650 cells, which are indexed as Cell #1, Cell #2,· · ·, Cell #6 respectively, are used to charge and discharge repetitively. The parameters setup of these cells i...