Experimental investigation of the effect of vibration on phase change material (PCM) based battery thermal management system

The effect of vibratiim on a passive battery thermal management (BTM) system is investigated. The BTM system includes phase change material (PCM) in an enclosure hosting a battery pack. Rubitherm (R) 35HC PCM is used in the current investigation with a goal to maintain the battery temperature within the range of 25 degrees C to 40 degrees C. The simulated batteries are made of aluminum cylinders containing ceramic cartridge heaters at their cores, which mimic 2300 mAh 18650 Lithium-ion batteries. A series of experimental tests have been carried out to study the transient thermal field behaviour of the battery pack under various discharge rates (i.e., 1C-5C). The ranges of applied frequency and amplitude during the experiments are 20-30 Hz and 30 mm/s to 50 mm/s, respectively, which are typically observed in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) on the road during normal operation. The temperature at the battery surface shows an increasing trend with increasing frequency and amplitude of vibration. However, the transient temperature variation pattern of batteries in the centre of the battery pack is slightly different than the batteries in the corners.