DOT Safeguard Guidelines
The United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods finalized these test requirements at their Twenty First Session Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland from December 4-13, 2000.
These tests must be performed on all lithium primary and secondary batteries. These tests can be summarized as follows:
| T1 | Altitude Simulation — Store at 11.6 kPa or less for 6 hours at 20°C. |
| T2 | Thermal Test — Perform 10 cycles between 75°C and -40°C, 6 hours per cycle with no more than 30 minutes between cycles, then observe for 24 hours. |
| T3 | Vibration - Sinusoidal waveform with a logarithmic sweep between 7 Hz and 200 Hz and back to 7 Hz in 15 minutes. This cycle must be repeated 12 times for a total of 3 hours for each of three mutually perpendicular mounting positions of the cell. |
| T4 | Shock — Half-sine shock of peak acceleration of 150 gn and pulse duration of 6 milliseconds. Each must be subject to 3 shocks in the positive direction and 3 shocks in the negative direction of three mutually perpendicular mounting positions for a total of 18 shocks. |
| T5 | External Short Circuit — After stabilizing at 55°C, apply an external resistance of less than 0.1 ohm for 1 hour and then observe for 6 hours. |
| T6 | Impact — Place a 15.8 mm diameter bar across the sample and then drop a 9.1 kg mass from a height of 61 cm on to the bar, then observe 6 hours. |
| T7 | Overcharge — Charge at twice the manufacturer's recommended maximum continuous charge current for 24 hours and then observe for 7 days. |
| T8 | Forced Discharge — Force discharge at an initial current equal to the maximum discharge current specified by the manufacturer, then observe for 7 days. |
Cells or batteries to be tested;
| T1 | Primary and Rechargeable cells and batteries |
| T2 | Primary and Rechargeable cells and batteries |
| T3 | Primary and Rechargeable cells and batteries |
| T4 | Primary and Rechargeable cells and batteries |
| T5 | Primary and Rechargeable cells and batteries |
| T6 | Primary cells and Rechargeable cells |
| T7 | Rechargeable batteries |
| T8 | Primary and Rechargeable cells |
Cells and batteries required for each test;
| T1 — T5 | 20 Primary Cells and 8 Primary Batteries 20 Rechargeable Cells and 16 Rechargeable Batteries |
| T6 | 10 or 20 (Prismatic) Primary Cells and 10 or 20 (Prismatic) Rechargeable Cells |
| T7 | 8 Rechargeable Batteries |
| T8 | 10 Primary Cells and 20 Rechargeable Cells |
Total primary cells and batteries required for testing;
| 40 Primary Cylindrical Cells and 50 Primary Prismatic Cells |
| 8 Primary Batteries |
Total rechargeable cells and batteries required for testing;
| 50 Rechargeable Cylindrical Cells and 60 Rechargeable Prismatic Cells |
| 24 Rechargeable Batteries |
A complete description of the UN Tests is available at http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/danger.htm.
