Numerical Study of Flow and Heat Transfer Performance of 3D-Printed Polymer-Based Battery Thermal Management

The thermal performance of a novel battery thermal management system produced by additive manufacturing is investigated through simulations. The performance of 3D-printed polymer-based battery thermal management systems is investigated for heat-managing high power density Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles and stationary applications. The manufacturing of the battery packs through 3D-printing allows for greater complexity and novelty in the design of the coolant flow domains, in order to achieve a high heat transfer coefficient by the coolant. Having a high heat transfer coefficient at the coolant side allows the use of lower conductive materials in the body of the battery pack. The proposed system takes advantage of 3D-printing technology to embedded heat fins in the cooling channel. The simulations consider various discharging rates from 2C to a high of 3C to take the battery from a 100% to 20% state of charge in the discharging process. For the charging rates 2C and 3C, the maximum battery temperature within the pack reached 22.8 degrees C and 24.5 degrees C, respectively. However, the maximum temperature difference across a six-battery pack reached no more than 1.5 degrees C and 4.5 degrees C, respectively. A maximum temperature difference achieved by the proposed system shows the ability of the 3D-printed polymer-based system to achieve the required performance and demonstrates the potential of such systems that are equipped with the advantage of additive manufacturing. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.