Heat transfer performance enhancement of liquid cold plate based on mini V-shaped rib for battery thermal management

Abstract

Liquid cooling is an effective method for thermal management of high-power battery packs. A number of studies have shown that the general methods to enhance heat transfer performance by increasing flow rate will significantly increase pump power consumption. Here, in order to reduce the pump power consumption while enhancing heat transfer, the mini V-shaped ribs is used to optimize the structure of the liquid cold plate. The flow and heat transfer characteristics of square, triangular, semicircular and trapezoidal cross-section V-shaped ribs are investigated. The main results show that the Nusselt Number and Friction Factor of channel with V-shaped ribs are higher than those of smooth channel and the channel with straight rib. Additionally, compared with other rib structures, the V-shaped rib with triangular cross-section can reach the same heat transfer performance under smaller flow rate and pump power consumption. It is also found that the near wall hot fluid is stripped by the V-shaped ribs, so that the cold fluid in the mainstream can directly exchange heat with the wall, in addition, the twisted tape vortex caused by V-shaped rib can inhibit the development of the sidewall boundary layer.