Experimental study of a turbulent topology-optimized cold plate for battery thermal management system

Abstract

The topology optimization method is an advanced design approach that can be used to enhance the heat dissipation efficiency of cold plates in liquid-cooled battery thermal management system (BTMS). However, most existing studies rely on laminar flow assumptions and focus on designing for single cells, which limits their effectiveness in managing the thermal demands of large-capacity battery packs during high-rate charging and discharging. Therefore, in this study, we propose a novel cold plate designed using the turbulent topology optimization approach for battery pack cooling, and its actual heat transfer performance is tested using an experimental platform. A multi-objective function is set to simultaneously minimize pressure drop and average temperature, while the k-ε turbulence model and conjugate heat transfer model are utilized to simulate the coolant's velocity and temperature distribution within the cold plate. Then, the turbulent topology-optimized cold plate (TTCP) is constructed and manufactured. An experimental testing platform, including a battery pack charging/discharging system and a coolant circulation system, is established to assess its hydraulic and heat dissipation performance. The results indicate that, compared to traditional serpentine cold plate (SCP) and rectangular cold plate (RCP), the TTCP significantly reduces average temperature and pressure drop while improving temperature uniformity. When the inlet volume flow rate reaches 7.5 L/min, the performance evaluation criterion (PEC) number of the TTCP is 66 % and 56 % higher than that of SCP and RCP, respectively. These results underscore the outstanding performance of TTCP in BTMS and offer valuable insights for the design of advanced battery cold plates.