Numerical investigation on optimal design of battery cooling plate for uneven heat generation conditions in electric vehicles

Abstract

As a key component in contact with the battery pack in the liquid-cooled system of electrical vehicle, cooling plate needs to achieve effective heat transfer while maintaining the temperature distribution uniformity of the battery pack. In this paper, numerical analysis of the cooling plate structure adopted in an actual battery module is undertaken and verified by comparison with the experiment. Three structural design schemes for the cooling plate are proposed and analyzed based on the thermal characteristics of the battery pack. The results indicate that the temperature distribution of the battery pack is actually the result of the two-way coupling of the battery heating and liquid cooling process. The temperature distribution uniformity of the battery pack can be effectively improved after the structural optimization of the cooling plate. Compared to the original design, the maximum field synergy angle is reduced by 7.25%, while the cooling efficiency factor is increased by 10.82% for the uneven heating condition of the battery pack. In addition, the temperature uniformity of the battery pack deteriorates as the discharge rate increases. The overall optimization method for the uneven distribution of heat sources can be used as a reference for the structural design of the cooling plate.