CFD-based investigation of airflow distribution and heat dissipation in lithium-ion battery modules

Abstract

With the response to the call for low-carbon development, the electric vehicle industry has grown rapidly. The safety and stability of the thermal management system for lithium-ion batteries are of vital importance. This paper takes the 18650 cylindrical lithium-ion battery module as the research object. Using SolidWorks, two types of cell arrangement models, 2×8 and 4×4, were established, and a coupled model of fluid flow and heat transfer was established in COMSOL Multiphysics to conduct numerical simulation of the internal air flow and heat dissipation process of the module. The influence of cell arrangement method, ventilation port layout method, and inlet wind speed on the internal air flow distribution and temperature distribution of the battery was mainly studied. The simulation results show that appropriately increasing the inlet speed, optimizing the position of the ventilation ports, and arranging the batteries properly all contribute to reducing the temperature inside the battery. The key point is whether the airflow can evenly cover the interior of the battery and effectively dissipate heat. The research in this paper can provide certain references for the optimization of the air-cooling heat dissipation design of lithium-ion battery modules.