Optimal Charging of Li-Ion Batteries with Coupled Electro-Thermal-Aging Dynamics

Fast and safe charging protocols are crucial for enhancing the practicality of batteries, especially for mobile applications, such as smartphones and electric vehicles. This paper proposes an innovative approach to devising optimally health-conscious fast-safe charge protocols. A multiobjective optimal control problem is mathematically formulated via a coupled electro-thermal-aging battery model, where electrical and aging submodels depend upon the core temperature captured by a two-state thermal submodel. The Legendre-Gauss-Radau pseudospectral method with adaptive multi-mesh-interval collocation is employed to solve the resulting highly nonlinear six-state optimal control problem. Charge time and health degradation are, therefore, optimally traded off, subject to both electrical and thermal constraints. Minimum-time, minimum-aging, and balanced charge scenarios are examined in detail. Sensitivities to the upper voltage bound, ambient temperature, and cooling convection resistance are investigated as well. Experimental results are provided to compare the tradeoffs between a balanced and traditional charge protocol.