Open Access

ARTICLE

CFD-Based Numerical Analysis of the Thermal Characteristics of an Electric Vehicle Power Battery

Yaya Wang^1,*, Chao Ma²
1 Xi’an Traffic Enginering Institute, Xi’an, 710000, China
2 Xi’an Technological University, Xi’an, 710000, China
* Corresponding Author: Yaya Wang. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: EFD and Heat Transfer III)

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2022, 18(1), 159-171. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2022.017743

Received 02 June 2021; Accepted 26 July 2021; Issue published 10 November 2021

Abstract

Towards the end to solve the problem of temperature rise in the power battery of electric vehicles, a method based on the coupling of electrochemical, thermal and hydrodynamic aspects is implemented. The method relies on the COMSOL Multiphysics software, which is used here to simulate the thermal behaviour, the related fluid-dynamics and the life attenuation of the power battery. A 3D battery model is built assuming a cylindrical geometry. The diameter of the battery is 18 mm, and its length is 65 mm. The battery charges and discharges at 3C, and the initial temperature is 25°C. Intake flow is set to 0.5 m/s after the air of the battery is cooled. The results show that: (1) The highest temperature of the battery unit increases significantly from 1.14°C of the original nylon heat pipe to 0.17°C of the hot pipe core shaft; (2) When the short circuit of the battery is simulated, the temperature rise of the single battery is close to 20°C, the minimum rise is about 12°C, and their difference reaches 8°C.

---

Keywords

Fluid mechanics; power batteries; thermal characteristics; electrochemical coupling; thermal control

---