Electric Vehicle Battery Pack - Mechanical Design

Name: Electric Vehicle Battery Pack - Mechanical Design
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Mechanical Design Essentials for EV Battery Safety and Performance

Created byEdcorner Learning

Last updated 5/2025

English

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What you'll learn

Understand the fundamentals of EV battery systems and their structural design needs.
Learn the complete battery pack development process, from concept to mechanical integration.
Identify and analyze the essential components of a battery pack (cells, base plates, end plates, connectors).
Gain insight into the interaction between electrical, thermal, and mechanical design requirements.
Apply stress-strain theory to evaluate mechanical loads and deformation in battery structures.
Calculate base plate and end plate dimensions and support structures using engineering formulas.
Select appropriate materials using the Ashby methodology based on performance and cost factors.
Perform vibration analysis including free, forced, and modal analysis for MDOF systems.
Analyze structural response under dynamic loads and excited frequency conditions.
Apply mechanical design theory in a real-world case study involving a 60V battery pack.

Course content

2 sections • 26 lectures • 1h 23m total length

Intro To Electric Vehicles (EV) Batteries5:30
Examine how EV battery packs power modern mobility, covering Li-ion chemistries such as NMC, LFP, and NCA, cell formats, modules, BMS, thermal management, and key safety standards.
What Does A Battery Pack Need4:03
Develop the electrical design with series and parallel cell connections and a properly sized busbar, while thermal design maintains 15 to 35°C for longevity and safety.
Battery Pack Development Process3:04
Detail the four sub domains of battery pack development—electrical design, thermal management, mechanical design, and the BMS—and show how the BMS safeguards health, efficiency, and range through monitoring and control.
Importance Of Electrical And Thermal Designs2:49
Analyze capacity, voltage, and current to determine series and parallel cell configurations for power. Manage thermal design to boost efficiency and life, and reduce short-circuit risk with isolation.
Importance Of Mechanical And BMS Designs3:32
Design a safe mechanical structure that preserves battery pack integrity under extreme conditions and enables easy service, paired with a BMS that maintains limits and logs events.
Stages Of Battery Pack Design4:59
Explore stages of battery pack design, from parallel-first cell configuration to series for voltage, through mechanical, electrical, and thermal structures, safety, controls, and telemetry applications.
Major Components Of A Battery Pack6:20
Identify the components of a battery pack—cells, insulation, base plate, side strips, busbars, thermistors, voltage sensors, wiring harness, and casing—and explain how they manage heat and current in series/parallel configurations.

Important Considerations Of Mechanical Design2:58
Apply material selection criteria balancing cost, availability, strength, and safety. Design base plates and outer casings to minimize cell movement with uniform pressure within packaging constraints in vehicle space.
Connecting Cell Together4:35
Learn how to assemble a battery pack by configuring cells in parallel and in series, using 8p1s and 8p8s examples to show voltage, current, and capacity.
Building The Battery Pack3:43
Build a battery pack from a selected cell using series and parallel configurations to meet 60 V nominal for a 75 km scooter, considering current, voltage, DoD, and auxiliary loads.
Forces Acting On The Battery Pack1:42
Identify the forces acting on the battery pack, including side strip tension, end plate bending, and base plate reactions. Highlight the busbar shear and other dominant forces at each component.
Introduction To Stress-Strain Theory2:31
Introduce the basic stress-strain theory and five fundamental loads—compression, tension, shear, torsion, and bending—on a mechanical element, with stress as force per area and strain as length change.
Base Plate Dimension Calculations1:42
Design a continuous rectangular base plate about 274 by 135 mm to carry a 10.24 kg load without bending or busbar constraint, then select material and thickness.
Material Selection Criteria Ashby Methodology10:19
Apply Ashby methodology to select materials by translating requirements into an objective function, screening, ranking, and supporting information to minimize mass and cost while controlling deflection.
Base Plate Support Calculations1:42
Design base plate to carry cell load without bending and keep busbar constrained; use 274 by 134 mm plate, compute stress from 10.24 kg, and select material and thickness.
End Plate Support Calculations3:20
Calculate base plate thickness, bending stress, and end plate stiffness with ribs to control deflection. Explain 14 psi (6,894.76 Pa) uniform pressure extends cell life and verification methods.
Vibration Analysis2:46
Analyze vibration analysis in mechanical design, contrasting deterministic and non-deterministic vibrations and using data to derive equivalent functions. Identify deterministic transient, harmonic, spectrum, and non-deterministic random and impulsive/shock events.
Vibration Analysis - Procedure3:45
Identify natural frequencies via model analysis to locate peak amplitudes, such as two hertz for a bogie, then assess maximum deflection under random road vibrations using spectrum and time-history analyses.
Modal Analysis Of Multiple Degree Of Freedom (Mdof) System1:14
Explore modal analysis of a multiple degree of freedom system by examining the governing equation with mass, damping, and stiffness, and undamped free vibration as a pendulum in vacuum.
Free Vibration1:36
Explore free vibration in a mass–spring system, derive ω = sqrt(k1/m1) and f = ω/(2π), and solve m u'' + k u = 0 for amplitude in undamped vibration.
Forced Vibration0:41
Explore undamped forced vibration in electric vehicle battery pack mechanical design, under a sinusoidal time function with amplitude f0 and angular frequency omega_n, and analyze the system's response.
Case Study - 60v Battery Pack3:43
Case study on a 160 volt battery pack demonstrates harmonic vibration testing using steady state sinusoidal loads of 3g, with a 30 to 150 Hz range and octave-based logarithmic sweep.
Modal Analysis - Procedure1:35
Modal analysis identifies natural frequencies and maximum amplitudes for a seven-component battery pack; import CAD, clean up, mesh, apply boundary conditions, and run simulations in Ansys or PCA.
Mode Frequencies And Shapes1:54
Analyze mode frequencies and shapes of the electric vehicle battery pack, identifying first to third mode shapes and their frequencies. Apply 5 mm thickness to meet 30–150 Hz criteria.
Deformation On Excited Frequencies0:42
Analyze deformation on excited frequencies using octave-based selection, identify maximum deformation and resulting stress to assess material failure, demonstrated in Ansys with comparable steps in other software.
Summary2:54
Summarizes the mechanical development of an electric vehicle battery pack, including base plate and end plate design, material selections, busbar considerations, and vibration analysis with a 60 V case study.

Requirements

Interest in electric vehicle systems and design.

Description

The course Electric Vehicle Battery Pack – Mechanical Design is a comprehensive exploration of the structural and mechanical engineering principles essential to designing robust, safe, and efficient battery packs for electric vehicles (EVs). It begins with an overview of EV battery fundamentals, outlining what a battery pack needs to function effectively in real-world automotive conditions. Learners are guided through the full battery pack development process, with specific emphasis on the often-underappreciated role of mechanical design in concert with electrical and thermal considerations. The course breaks down the stages of battery pack design, covering core components such as the base plate, end plate, cell connections, and support structures. Students gain insight into the importance of stress-strain theory, vibration analysis, and mechanical forces acting on the pack during vehicle operation.

Through practical lectures like “Material Selection Criteria using Ashby Methodology” and “Base Plate Dimension and Support Calculations,” learners develop the analytical and modeling skills needed to ensure structural stability under static and dynamic loads. The course offers in-depth treatment of vibration behavior, including free and forced vibrations, modal analysis for multi-degree of freedom systems, and the deformation patterns of battery structures under excited frequencies. Real-world applications are reinforced through a detailed case study of a 60V battery pack, where learners apply theoretical knowledge to analyze mode frequencies and structural deformation. The course equips engineers and designers with the skills to evaluate, model, and build safe and durable battery enclosures, focusing on reliability, manufacturability, and compliance with automotive standards. Whether you're a mechanical engineer, EV system designer, or battery integration specialist, this course offers a specialized path to mastering the mechanical design challenges of modern electric vehicle battery packs.

Who this course is for:

Mechanical engineers aiming to specialize in EV battery pack design.
Automotive engineers involved in vehicle electrification and battery integration.
Electrical engineers seeking to understand the mechanical aspects of battery systems.
Product designers and R&D professionals working in EV or battery manufacturing sectors.
Engineering students pursuing careers in electric mobility and clean energy technologies.
Professionals transitioning from ICE vehicle design to electric vehicle platforms.
Battery system integrators and prototyping specialists looking to enhance their design skills.
Anyone with a technical background and a keen interest in EV structural battery engineering.

Electric Vehicle Battery Pack - Mechanical Design

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction7 lectures • 30min

Mechanical Design19 lectures • 53min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: