ACCELERATED CYCLE-LIFE TESTING OF SMALL SEALED LEAD-ACID-BATTERIES

An attempt has been made to devise methods for reducing the cycle-testing time of long-life sealed lead/acid batteries. In order for the accelerated test results to equate to the actual field operations, it is assumed that the failure modes under both normal and accelerated conditions must be the same. As a first step in the search for a reliable accelerated test, observations of the battery ageing process have been made under different daily duty cycles, viz., 1 (normal), 8 and 16 cycles/day at ambient temperature and 80% depth-of-discharge. It has been found that the main cause of failure is different for a given duty cycle. This complicates the task of applying accelerated test results to field operations. For the 8 cycles/day schedule, the main cause of failure is degradation of the positive active material. Positive grid corrosion is the main factor in the 16 cycles/day case. Under normal conditions, both grid corrosion and PbO2 degradation appear to be equally significant.