The problem
Retired EV batteries are growing in number, and their reuse and recycling depend heavily on how packs are built. Adhesives, potting and welded busbars make disassembly slow and unsafe, and mixed materials reduce recovery. Designers need methods to quantify disassembly and recovery at the design stage, balanced against cost, safety and structural needs.
Objectives
- Review design-for-disassembly and recycling literature for EV batteries.
- Model at least three pack architectures with different joining and integration choices.
- Define and compute metrics for disassembly time, separability and recoverable value.
- Assess environmental impact with SOLIDWORKS Sustainability and compare with literature data.
- Validate disassembly predictions with timed teardown of safe mock-ups, and propose design guidelines.
What you need
Tools and toolboxes
- SOLIDWORKS Assembly — Pack architectures with modules, joins, busbars, thermal interface and enclosures, and exploded teardown sequences.
- SOLIDWORKS Sustainability — Life cycle impact estimates for parts and assemblies, including carbon footprint and energy; the full add-in is licensed separately, and SustainabilityXpress covers single parts only.
- Mass Properties and BOM — Material masses by part for separability and recovery calculations.
- SOLIDWORKS Composer (optional) — Disassembly instructions and illustrations for the teardown study.
- Excel or Python — Disassembly time models, recovery value calculations and statistical comparison with teardown data.
Software
- SOLIDWORKS 2023 or later
- SOLIDWORKS Sustainability (add-in)
- Excel or Python
Extra parts and data
- Dummy cells and mock-up parts (3D printed or machined), fasteners and adhesives — Safe teardown experiments must use non-energised mock-ups, never real cells.
- Material composition data from literature — Cell and pack material shares and recovery assumptions come from published studies.
Key concepts
- Design for disassembly
- Designing joints, access and part layout so a product can be taken apart quickly, safely and without damage, supporting repair, reuse and recycling.
- Disassembly depth
- How far a product must be taken apart to reach a target component, for example the number of operations to free one module.
- Material separability
- Whether materials can be separated cleanly; bonded or co-moulded combinations reduce the purity and value of recovered material.
- Life cycle assessment
- A method to estimate environmental impact across material extraction, manufacture, use and end of life. Tool results depend on database assumptions and system boundaries.
Step-by-step guide
- 1
Review and define the scope
Review literature on battery pack disassembly, recycling routes (mechanical, pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, direct recycling), design-for-disassembly metrics and regulatory trends on battery passports and recycled content, described generally. Define the scope: pack-level design for reuse, repair and recycling, excluding cell chemistry design. State the functional unit for comparing designs, for example one pack of a given energy and power. Draw a system boundary diagram showing which life cycle stages are inside the study and which are excluded, so later comparisons stay consistent.
Checkpoint: A literature review with the gap identified, a defined scope and a functional unit.
- 2
Model baseline architectures
Model three example architectures at the same energy: A, modules with bolted busbars and a bolted lid; B, modules bonded to a tray with structural adhesive and laser-welded busbars; C, cell-to-pack with potting and an integrated tray. Use consistent cell sizes and masses from a datasheet. Model joints explicitly so fasteners, welds and adhesive layers are separate bodies with mass and material.
Checkpoint: Three fully mated assemblies of the same energy with every joining element modelled and in the BOM.
- 3
Plan teardown sequences
For each architecture, create an exploded view showing the disassembly order needed to reach and free one module or cell group, then fully separate materials. Note the tool, the operation type (unbolt, cut, heat, pry) and any safety step, such as removing the service disconnect and verifying isolation. Count operations and disturbed parts. Use the Explode Line Sketch to show the tool access path for each operation, and flag any step that needs the pack to be turned over.
Checkpoint: A teardown sequence table for each architecture with operations, tools and safety steps.
- 4
Define and compute metrics
Define metrics: estimated disassembly time using standard operation times from literature, disassembly depth to one module, material separability based on how many material pairs are joined inseparably, and recoverable value using mass from Mass Properties times assumed recovery rates and indicative value per kilogram from literature, labelled as assumptions. Compute them in a spreadsheet for each architecture. Run a simple sensitivity check on the recovery rates and values, because the ranking of architectures may change if these assumptions shift.
Checkpoint: A metric table for all three architectures with every assumption and source listed.
- 5
Run Sustainability studies
Assign materials and manufacturing processes in SOLIDWORKS Sustainability for each part, set the manufacturing region, use and transport parameters, and an end-of-life split between recycling, incineration and landfill. Run assessments for each architecture and record carbon footprint, total energy, air acidification and water eutrophication. Note that cell materials may not be well represented in its database, and compare with published values.
Checkpoint: Impact results for each architecture with a comparison against at least one literature value and the gaps noted.
- 6
Build mock-ups for teardown
Build safe, non-energised mock-ups of a module section for each architecture: printed or machined dummy cells of correct size, real fasteners, a representative adhesive and spot-welded or bolted dummy busbars. Never use real cells. Get your institute's safety approval for adhesives and tools. Prepare a timing protocol with defined start and end points for each operation. Check the mock-up dimensions against the CAD model with a caliper and record any differences, so the teardown represents the modelled design.
Checkpoint: Three mock-ups built to the CAD design, and an approved teardown protocol.
- 7
Run timed teardowns
Have several participants, for example five, disassemble each mock-up following the instructions, timing each operation and noting damage to parts. Randomise the order to reduce learning effects. Record whether target components were recovered intact. Treat participants ethically and obtain any approvals your institute requires for studies with people. Give every participant the same short briefing and tool set, and run a practice operation on an unrelated part first so tool familiarity does not distort the first timings.
Checkpoint: Timing and damage data for each participant and architecture, with operation-level times.
- 8
Validate the model
Compare measured times with the estimated times from the metric model. Compute the error and check whether the model ranks architectures in the same order as measurement. If not, adjust operation times, for example for adhesive cutting, and re-test on a held-out architecture or a fourth variant. Discuss how mock-up results relate to real packs, which are heavier and need high-voltage safety steps.
Checkpoint: Model-versus-measured comparison with error and ranking agreement, and a calibrated model.
- 9
Explore design improvements
Use the calibrated model to test design changes, such as reversible adhesives, bolted busbars, standard fasteners with one tool, labelled materials and access windows for the BMS. Model the most promising changes in SOLIDWORKS, re-run metrics and Sustainability, and check structural impact with a quick static study if joints change. Plot trade-offs between disassembly time, recoverable value, mass and estimated cost.
Checkpoint: A trade-off chart showing improved designs and what each improvement costs in mass or structure.
- 10
Guidelines and thesis
Write design guidelines supported by your results, each linked to a metric improvement. Document methods, models, mock-up builds, teardown data, Sustainability results and limitations, including database gaps and mock-up realism. Provide CAD and spreadsheet appendices for reproducibility. Avoid claiming industry-wide numbers, and present results as specific to your architectures and assumptions. Rank the guidelines by measured effect so a designer knows which change to make first when time or budget is limited.
Checkpoint: A thesis chapter or paper with guidelines, data and limitations, ready for supervisor review.
Testing & validation
- Architectures are compared at the same functional unit.
- Disassembly time estimates are checked against timed mock-up teardowns.
- Sustainability results are compared with literature values and gaps stated.
- Structural impact of design changes is checked.
- All assumptions on recovery rates and values are listed with sources.
Expected results
Three modelled pack architectures with disassembly, separability, recovery and life cycle metrics, a disassembly time model calibrated against timed mock-up teardowns, and evidence-based design-for-disassembly guidelines.
Research angle for your PhD
The research contribution is a validated, design-stage method that links pack architecture choices to disassembly time, material recovery and life cycle impact, checked against measured teardowns. Publishable work needs clear assumptions, a calibrated model tested on held-out designs and honest discussion of mock-up and database limits.
Take it further
- Add a cost model to the trade-off with SOLIDWORKS Costing.
- Study robotic disassembly feasibility for each architecture.
- Include second-life reuse of modules in stationary storage in the assessment.
Viva and review questions
Why use mock-ups rather than real packs?
Real cells are a fire and high-voltage hazard and need specialist facilities. Mock-ups with real fasteners and adhesives let me measure disassembly effort safely, while I note the steps real packs add.
How reliable are the Sustainability numbers?
They depend on the tool's material and process database, which may not represent cell materials well. I treated them as comparative between architectures and checked them against published values.
Is a bolted pack always better?
Not always. Bolted joints help disassembly but can add mass and parts. My trade-off chart shows where the benefit outweighs the cost for these architectures.
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