Topology optimization of cooling plates for battery thermal management

The cooling plate has been proved to be an effective method for battery thermal management system (BTMS). However, for the cooling plate, the trade-off between heat exchange efficiency and pressure drop is still a problem. Therefore, in order to solve the problem, a novel cooling plate has been designed using the topology optimization (TO) method in the study. For the purpose of performance analysis, a numerical model is employed for the optimized cooling plate and validated with the experimental works. The velocity, pressure, and temperature of the optimized cooling plate are compared with that of the traditional straight cooling plate. Following the comparison, the influences of the flow rate and inlet temperature on the performance of the optimized cooling plate are further analyzed. The results present that the pressure drop and maximum temperature of the optimized cooling plate decrease by 47.9% and 2.3 degrees C than the traditional cooling plate at a flow rate of 1.6 x10(-5) m(3)/s, respectively. It indicates the novel cooling plate designed by the TO method could be a viable and high-efficiency approach to battery thermal management. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel cooling plate was designed using the topology optimization method in this study, and numerical analysis showed significant improvements in reducing pressure drop and maximum temperature compared to traditional cooling plates. This approach could be considered as a high-efficiency method for battery thermal management.