thermal runaway

Also found in: Wikipedia.

thermal runaway

[′thər·məl ′rən·ə‚wā]

(electronics)

A condition that may occur in a power transistor when collector current increases collector junction temperature, reducing collector resistance and allowing a greater current to flow, which, in turn, increases the heating effect.

thermal runaway

A repeating cycle in which excessive heat causes more heat until the operation ceases or an explosion occurs. For example, lithium ion batteries have been known to exhibit thermal runaway and explode. In germanium-based bipolar transistors, high temperatures cause current to leak. This, in turn, causes the transistor to heat even more and eventually become unstable or self-destruct. Obviously, after thermal runaway appears in new systems, the product is re-engineered to prevent it.

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

Over time, fretting corrosion results in electrical deterioration, data loss, thermal runaway and ultimately circuit failure.

The Use of PARTICLE IMPACT DAMPERS (PID) to Prevent Damage from Vibration: Lab tests show the addition of COTS parts significantly improves time to failure

The SJxx40x Series is designed to prevent the overheating and thermal runaway problems SCRs can experience due to an applications limited cooling capability or occasional overload situation.

United States : Littelfuse Introduces its First SCR Thyristor Capable of Handling 600V 40Arms and 150C Junction Temperature

The heat from either could initiate a decomposition reaction, leading to a thermal runaway enhanced by oxygen gas.

More battery-powered Options for LHDs: recognizing the benefits of zero emissions, miners consider lithium batteries

Prakash, Investigations of the Exothermic Reactions of Natural Graphite Anode for Li-Ion Batteries during Thermal Runaway, J.

Synthesis and Characterization of Thermally Stable Organic Composites of Polyaniline with Polyethylene Oxide

As mechanical damage induced thermal runaway of lithium-ion batteries has become one of the research hotspots, it is quite crucial to understand the mechanical behavior of component materials of lithium battery.

Mechanical behavior of lithium-ion battery component materials and error sources analysis for test results

Some specific topics include high-voltage battery system concepts for ISO 26262 compliance, the effect of electrode tabs configuration on the electric-thermal behavior of a Li-ion battery, and thermal management modeling for avoidance of thermal runaway conditions in lithium ion batteries.

Lithium Ion Batteries in Electric Drive Vehicles

Providing thermal protection from uncontrolled fire for sustained periods of time, Morgan's FireMaster material is now making its debut in the aviation market in the fight against thermal runaway.

Thermal bag beats aviation fire risk

In addition, the GC-1000 has overload protection, and charging will be interrupted if the maximum temperature has been exceeded, protecting the batteries from over temperature and thermal runaway.

Eagle Eye Power Solutions: Introducing the New GC-1000 Golf Cart Battery Charger

Most notably there is no lithium metal deposition taking place during charge and discharge and therefore no possibility of thermal runaway.

Closing the power gap

Semiconductors can experience thermal runaway when operating in very high temperatures.

Diverse embedded applications drive an increase in temperature extremes: managing thermal challenges with small form factor embedded platforms

Federal Aviation Administration tests show a single damaged or defective battery can experience uncontrolled temperature increases known as thermal runaway.

AP sources: Panel proposes ban on air shipments of batteries

Neither the cell-level nor battery-level safety features prevented this single-cell failure, which propagated to adjacent cells, resulting in a cascading thermal runaway, rupture of the cells and consequent release of smoke, fire and flammable electrolyte.