Topology design of cold plates for pouch battery thermal management considering heat distribution characteristics

Abstract

The topology optimization technique was applied to the structural design of the cold plate for pouch Lithium-ion batteries in this study, aiming to boost its overall performance. With maximum heat transfer and minimum flow resistance as the optimization objectives of the cold plate channel, we proposed a topology approach for non-uniform heat generation, motivated by the inhomogeneous cell heat distribution. The optimization iteration yielded a non-uniform channel structure (N-type) with a denser channel distribution in the hot zone. According to the topology results, a simplified cooling system model for the 50 V battery module was constructed and investigated numerically. Under constant and dynamic current conditions, the N-type cold plate was compared to cold plates with other two channel structures: the uniform channel type and the straight channel type. As a result, the N-type cold plate showed the best comprehensive performance. Furthermore, the optimal design of the cooling system with different inlet and outlet layouts, channel depths and inlet mass flow rates was explored. The N-type cold plate with bottom inlet-top outlet layout, channel depth of 2.5 mm, inlet width of 15 mm and mass flow rate of 8 g s-1 is the ideal choice for the cooling system at 2C discharge. The j/f factor reached the maximum value of 3.42, with the pump power consumption and the Nusselt number being 2.53×10-3W and 39.26, respectively. The topology cold plate and optimization method proposed in this study can be used to increase the performance of BTMS.