Studying the Degradation of Lithium-Ion Batteries Using an Empirical Model for Aircraft Applications

At present, the lithium-ion battery (LIB) is the most important candidate for electrical energy storage for different applications, including electric and hybrid vehicles and aircraft. Although many studies have been done so far to evaluate performance and durability of LIB cells and packs for vehicle application, there is no study for the application of LIBs in electric and hybrid aircraft. In this paper, the cycle life and calendar life of a typical aftermarket LIB are studied through an empirical modeling method. The degradation rate of the battery for a typical light-weight passenger aircraft with a flight range of less than 1000 km is presented. The real duty-cycle of the battery for this aircraft is used for the cycle-life analysis.