The new alloy also shows promise for use in high-temperature environments, such as supersonic aircraft.
The team from the Department of Aluminum in the Advanced Metals Division at KIMS have developed an aluminum alloy for electric vehicles that significantly improves thermal stability. Their findings are published in the Journal of Materials Research and Technology. They discovered a new mechanism involving nanostructures in aluminum alloys and demonstrated that their alloy improved thermal stability by up to 140% compared to materials from leading overseas companies. Traditional aluminum battery enclosure materials degrade due to battery heat, increasing the risk of accidents as electric vehicles age. The new alloy enhances thermal stability by adding various trace elements to the existing 6000 series aluminum alloy, delaying thermal deterioration caused by heat generation.
The electric vehicle battery enclosure material market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 8.4%, reaching USD 863.3 million by 2029 from USD 464.9 million in 2020. Currently, local production lags behind advanced overseas companies in terms of technological competitiveness. However, this new technology is expected to drive import substitution and facilitate exports. The researchers created a new database by incorporating dozens of trace elements and analyzing nanostructures using techniques such as transmission electron microscopy and 3D atom probe tomography. They confirmed that several elements could improve thermal stability. This aluminum alloy exhibits excellent properties in high-temperature environments, making it suitable for electric vehicle battery enclosures and structural materials for supersonic aircraft. The research expands the database of thermal stability enhancement techniques and introduces new directions for alloy design.
The team have completed fundamental research on aluminum alloy manufacturing technology with improved thermal stability and are now conducting follow-up research aimed at advancing the technology through applied research and transferring it to domestic aluminum battery enclosure material manufacturers.
