Battery Application

The battery application provides a set of unique test case setups for a test station, the associated cyclers, and one or more battery packs, modules, or cells.

Each test station requires a PXI-based process control unit (PCU) system. The PCU system can connect to multiple DUTs, cycler sockets, test chambers, and water conditioning units.

At each test station, the battery application can operate tests on each cycler socket independently while synchronizing the climate chamber conditions required by the different tests. Use PAconfigurator and the battery application to create and generate tests with different configurations.

Battery Pack and Module Applications

The performance of a PXI system governs the test station setup. One PXI system can test up to four DUTs at a frequency of 1000 Hz. Each DUT’s power connector requires at least one cycler. To increase the power on a DUT connector, link the cyclers in parallel with the cycler model capabilities.

With the battery pack and module applications, the following configurations are possible.
Table 4. Configurations for Battery Pack and Module Applications
Application TypeNumber of Power Connectors per DUTNumber of Parallel Cyclers per ConnectorNumber of DUTs in the Climate Chamber

Pack, Module

1

1

1-4

2

1-2

4

1

Pack

2

1

1-2

2

1-2

Pack

3

1

1

Pack

4

1

1

Battery Cell Application

The performance of a PXI system governs the test station setup. One PXI system can control up to 24 DUTs at a frequency of 100 Hz. To increase the power on a DUT, connect the cyclers in parallel with the cycler model capabilities.

Each parallel connection reduces the number of simultaneous cell tests by one. For example, if two DC cyclers are connected in parallel, it is possible to test 23 cells simultaneously instead of 24.

The battery cell application can complete the following actions:
  • Connect each cell to its own DC cycler.
  • Perform separate tests on each cell. For example, a cell can undergo a peak power test while another cell undergoes a capacity test.
  • Perform different tests on each cell.
  • Generate more power by connecting DC cyclers in parallel.
  • Generate multiple cyclic, dynamic, and point measurements with up to 100 Hz in parallel.
  • Perform a thermal steady state according to ISO 12405-4 and DIN EN IEC 62660.
  • Trace drive cycles in the form of measurement files (EDAS32, DIAdem, MATLAB, MDF4, CSV, or PAtools binary).
  • Trace drive cycles in the form of step tables (PAtools).
To run multiple cell tests in parallel, the tests must meet one of the following requirements:
  • Not request a specific temperature.
  • Request the same temperature from the climate chamber.

If a test sends a temperature request to the climate chamber while another test with a different temperature request is running, the second test waits until the first test finishes.

Temperature Control Using Primary and Secondary Classifications

Test stations that test two or more slots use a primary and secondary relationship to specify the temperature.

In this scenario, a main test sorts equal tests into primary and secondary classifications.
  • Primary test specifies the temperature and, if applicable, relative humidity of the climate chamber.
  • Secondary tests exist for each loaded test.

Communication between tests is done through a UDP connection. Communication with the climate chamber takes place from the main test. This communication must include the respective driver for the climate chamber. The driver initializes when the main test loads.

When the primary test finishes, it logs off as the main test. The next secondary test loads, logs on to become the primary test, and specifies the temperature for the next battery.

The following figure displays the principle of temperature control using a main test and several standalone tests.

Figure 1. Temperature Control Using Main, Primary, and Secondary Test Classifications