Impact of vibration on Li-ion battery cooling: a system dynamics analysis and physical characterisation

Saeed, Ali, Karimi, Nader and Paul, Manosh C. (2025) Impact of vibration on Li-ion battery cooling: a system dynamics analysis and physical characterisation. International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 210, [109622]. (doi:10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2024.109622).

Abstract

In electric vehicles, batteries can experience vibration together with the vehicle, an effect that remains largely unexplored from the viewpoint of thermal management. Cooling of a single vibrating battery cell constitutes the foundation of this complex problem. Therefore, this paper puts forward a series of high-fidelity numerical simulations of a vibrating battery cell cooled by water and air. The aim is to gain further physical insight into the heat transfer processes involved in cooling of vibrating batteries and to identify the proper approach to predictive modelling of their dynamics. The cooling process of a battery cell undergoing vibration is analysed across various forcing frequencies, ranging from 10 Hz to 30 Hz and amplitudes (30 mm/s to 50 mm/s). The flow and temperature fields formed by the forced vibration of a battery cell are visualised and the time-traces of the surface-averaged Nusselt number are calculated. The results show that the thermal system developed by vibrating water-cooled battery cell under low amplitudes of modulation (30 mm/s) can be modelled using the classical transfer function approach. Increasing the modulation amplitude cases the system to diverge from being linear and the classical transfer function method is no longer appropriate for predicting the heat transfer. However, air-cooling presents a markedly nonlinear thermal system, defying prediction through transfer function methodologies. This behaviour is explained on the basis of fluid dynamics and the implications of the findings of this study on the implementation of thermal control systems are further discussed.

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Contributors

Author: Nader Karimi

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