Battery testing
TESTING STANDARDS
FOR LITHIUM BATTERIES
Lithium battery transportation standards for the aerospace industry
are evolving rapidly as their usage becomes more prevalent
// RICH BYCZEK
Lithium batteries are becoming more
prevalent in daily life and are a factor
that the aerospace industry needs to
consider. Whether carried by passengers in
personal devices, packed in luggage, or
shipped (individually or within a device) as
cargo, it is inevitable that these devices will
be present on aircraft. In fact, lithium
batteries are even being incorporated
directly into airplane electrical systems.
Lithium batteries are susceptible to
overheating and can become a fire hazard
under certain handling or extreme
environmental conditions, so they have
been classified as a Class 9 dangerous good.
In order to be transported, they must meet
certain provisions laid out in the UN 38.3
test method. It is important to know and
understand these tests.
GLOBAL CLASSIFICATIONS
UN 38.3 is actually a reference to clause
38.3 of the UN Manual of Tests and
Criteria, which lays out classification test
conditions for various dangerous goods. It
has been adopted globally by competent
authorities, making it a requirement for
access to global markets. There are four
classifications of these batteries based on
whether they are shipped standalone as
lithium (UN3090) or lithium-ion(UN3481)
batteries, or if they are shipped in/with a
device(UN3091/UN3481).
UN 38.3 provides the testing/
qualification requirements for these
batteries, and considers potential
transportation conditions from subsuppliers
to the end-user and requires
testing for: Altitude (Test T1); Thermal
162 SHOWCASE 2020 \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
// Boeing first warned that
flying bulk shipments of
lithium-ion batteries can
cause fires capable of
destroying aircraft in 2015
Cycling (Test T2); Vibration (Test T3); Shock
(Test T4); External short circuit (Test T5);
Impact and crush (Test T6); Overcharge
(Test T7); Forced Discharge (Test T8).
It is critical to note that these eight tests
are specifically evaluating batteries while
in transport and are not meant as a
substitute for product safety evaluations of
the battery in its application / usage
conditions.
CHANGING REQUIREMENTS
The most recent update of UN 38.3, 6th
Edition, Amendment 1, went into effect at
the start of 2019, and it includes several
key changes. For integrated batteries the
regulation has been updated to allow
testing of batteries within equipment,
where the battery is only shipped as part of
the product it powers.
The requirements for rechargeable cell
and battery pre-conditioning has been
reduced from 50 cycle charge/discharges to
25 and new tables have been added to
better illustrate sample count and test-flow
requirements for each cell or battery
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