Battery

The testing of batteries is a critical procedure to ensure that cells, modules, and battery packs – whether utilized in electric vehicles, mobile devices, solar energy storage, or aerospace applications – adhere to all established specifications. This evaluation framework allows organizations to verify technical claims regarding a product’s safety and operational performance.

A primary objective of battery testing is the acquisition of empirical data. Such information offers critical insights into design vulnerabilities, facilitates manufacturing consistency, and establishes standardized performance benchmarks. As a comprehensive process, the assessment of battery performance requires analyzing electrical stress resistance alongside evaluating behavioral patterns observed across multiple charge and discharge cycles.

Our Battery Testing Services

Electrochemical Performance Testing

This is where battery qualification starts. Electrochemical performance testing establishes the fundamental characteristics of a battery – capacity, energy density, charge-discharge efficiency, rate capability, and internal resistance – across lithium-ion, lead-acid, NiMH, and next-generation chemistries.

Charge-discharge testing, in particular, tells you how well a battery stores and releases energy over repeated cycles. It’s the clearest window into battery health, lifespan, and reliability. Over time, these tests reveal how capacity fades, how internal resistance grows, and how overall electrochemical performance trends – at the cell, module, and pack level, under defined temperature and rate conditions.

Separator Testing

The separator sits between the anode and cathode, preventing them from touching while still letting lithium ions pass through. It’s a thin component with an outsized role in battery safety. Separator integrity testing verifies that this barrier withstands thermal, mechanical, and chemical stresses throughout the battery’s full service life.

Relevant ASTM Standards:

• ASTM D726 – Air permeability testing (Gurley number) as a measure of pore structure and ionic transport resistance
• ASTM D4833 – Puncture strength testing to assess resistance against particle penetration that could trigger internal short circuits

Thermal Analysis of Battery Materials

Heat affects every component inside a battery – sometimes gradually, sometimes catastrophically. Thermal analysis involves exposing battery materials to controlled temperatures and carefully observing their responses. Techniques including TGA, DSC, TMA, DMA, and thermal conductivity measurements give manufacturers a clear picture of how stable their materials are and where the thermal limits lie.

Relevant ASTM Standards:

• ASTM D3418 – DSC for melting point, crystallization, glass transition temperature, and oxidative induction time of separator polymers and electrode binders
• ASTM E1356 – DSC glass transition temperature testing for battery-grade polymers and binder materials
• ASTM E793 – DSC enthalpy of fusion measurement for phase-change materials used in thermal management
• ASTM E794 – DSC melting and crystallization temperature testing for separator films and binder systems
• ASTM E1131 – TGA for decomposition onset temperature and thermal stability of electrolytes, membranes, and binders
• ASTM E831 – CTE testing by TMA for dimensional stability predictions in cell housings and pack components
• ASTM E1640 – DMA for storage and loss moduli and glass transition temperature of electrode composites and separator laminates

Rubber & Polymer Component Testing for Battery Systems

The rubber and polymer components inside an EV battery lead a tough life. Gaskets, seals, thermal interface pads, vibration isolators, and enclosure seals are constantly exposed to battery electrolytes, coolant fluids, and moisture – and they have to resist swelling, hardening, softening, and chemical degradation throughout the battery’s service life. Rigorous material qualification testing ensures these components continue to perform their functions over the long term.

Relevant ASTM Standards:

• ASTM D471 – Liquid immersion testing measuring dimensional change, hardness change, tensile strength retention, and mass change in battery electrolytes and coolants
• ASTM D395 – Compression set testing to predict long-term sealing reliability under sustained load at elevated temperatures
• ASTM D412 – Tensile strength and elongation testing for rubber sealing and damping components

Electrical Insulation & Dielectric Testing for Battery Components

Modern battery packs operate at high voltages, which means the materials that contain those voltages carry significant responsibility. Insulation and dielectric testing verify that these materials prevent leakage currents, withstand breakdown voltages, and maintain their performance under the thermal and electrical stresses of real-world operation.

Relevant ASTM Standards:

• ASTM D257 – Volume and surface resistivity measurement under DC voltage conditions
• ASTM D150 – Dielectric constant and dissipation factor testing in AC electric fields
• ASTM D149 – Dielectric breakdown voltage testing to establish the maximum voltage a material can handle before failure
• ASTM D5374 – Thermal aging evaluation of insulating materials’ structural integrity and electrical performance over time

Vibration Testing

An EV battery spends years absorbing road vibrations, handling bumps, and managing dynamic loads – all while continuing to perform reliably. Vibration testing subjects battery cells, modules, and complete packs to mechanical profiles that replicate those real-world inputs, from everyday road surfaces to more demanding conditions encountered in aerospace and marine environments. It’s how manufacturers confirm their designs won’t gradually shake themselves apart.

Accelerated Aging Testing

No manufacturer wants to wait a decade to find out whether their battery lasts a decade. Accelerated aging protocols – following ASTM F1980 and IEC 62133 – compress that timeline by running batteries at elevated temperatures and defined states of charge, combined with accelerated cycling that mimics actual field use. The result is a reliable estimate of long-term battery life in a fraction of the real time.

Relevant ASTM Standards:

• ASTM F1980 – Applied to battery separator and polymer components to estimate real-time aging equivalency and predict long-term dimensional and mechanical stability

Where Battery Testing Makes a Difference

Battery testing matters across virtually every industry that depends on stored energy. EV manufacturers use it to validate cycle life, charging stability, and range efficiency. Renewable energy developers rely on it to confirm that storage systems will perform dependably alongside wind and solar installations. Consumer electronics companies use it to ensure the devices people carry every day are safe and reliable.

The benefits are tangible:

• Longer product life and more consistent performance in the field
• Fewer warranty claims and lower maintenance costs
• Stronger, data-driven decisions in R&D and product development
• Greater customer confidence – and the brand loyalty that follows from it