This paper was produced for the 2019 NAFEMS World Congress in Quebec Canada

Resource Abstract

The thermal management of battery packs in recreational electric vehicles is of great importance for the reliability and durability of battery packs. The high discharge rate generates heat inside battery cells and current collectors that leads to temperature raise and nonuniform thermal pattern in the battery pack. The numerical simulation is an efficient step to save time and cost in the design of battery pack cooling system. The simulation of heat generation pattern and cooling system efficiency requires a 1D-3D co-simulation model that considers the interaction of electric (1D) and thermal fields(3D). In this study, the thermal behaviour is simulated for electric Can-Am on-road Spyder and for its battery pack that uses the air cooling and phase change materials as the thermal management methods. The co-simulation results are validated by experimental measurements of temperature for an adiabatic battery pack. Then, a module of 45-cell is simulated under the air-cooled conditions and the results indicate that non-uniform temperature distribution leads to different current and consequently different state of charge in the module cells. The cell level co-simulation shows faster discharging rate and less current fluctuation of central cells with higher temperature than the cells exposed to cooling system. The amount of heat generated in center cells is also lower than the cells with lower temperature.