Damage and fracture with strain gradient plasticity for high-capacity electrodes of Li-ion batteries

In consideration of the high-density dislocations from the lithiation process of high-capacity electrodes in Li-ion batteries, in this paper, a new elastoplastic model is established to describe the diffusion-induced deformation and damage fracture. With the help of the relative physical quantities and state of charge, the surface damage and fracture behaviors of electrode materials are discussed based on the elastic-perfectly plastic (PP) and the strain gradient plasticity (SGP) theories, respectively. The results show that the lithiation deformation could be alleviated by reducing the electrode scale, and the plastic flow can play an essential role in the extrusion ratcheting effect relating to the upper surface fracture. Furthermore, the interface damage is more likely to appear by increasing the initial bond stiffness at the upper surface, which has little effect on the later fracture. A strong size effect is also found in the damage and fracture critical curves for the PP and SGP models.