Identifying ‘hot spots’ before they cause thermal runaway

Despite all the necessary precautions, in the real world components still fail. This is undesirable, but it’s even worse when a component fails in a way that damages other components in the system, or even worse, poses a safety hazard.

Thermal runaway is one such unsafe condition that can happen as a direct result of component failure; it can lead to overheating of the system and cause damage. In the latest Engineers' Insight, Juliette Whithair examines what causes thermal runaway and explores some of the solutions designed to tackle it.