Considering the micro-channel liquid cooling thermal management system (TMS) of EV battery packs
a thermal model was established for a battery module consisting of 71 sections 18650 lithium-ion batteries. In this model
the thermal-lumped treatment was implemented for each single battery and the heat generation of a single battery was determined based on experimental measurements. In particular
heat conduction between neighboring batteries was considered. The battery module's thermal behavior
and investigated effects of the discharge C-rate
the liquid flow rate
the heat exchange area between neighboring batteries
and the interfacing area of the battery and the shell of micro-channel were numerically studied relying on the developed model. The simulated results corroborated the effectiveness of the micro-channel cooling system. It was found that:1) increasing the discharge C-rate led to higher temperature and worsened the temperature uniformity in the battery module; 2) increasing the liquid flow rate can significantly lower the maximum temperature and improve the temperature uniformity in the battery module; 3) increasing the exchange area between neighboring batteries slightly improved the temperature uniformity in the battery module
but only had limited effect at lowering the maximum temperature in the module; 4) increasing the interfacing area of the battery and the shell of micro-channel can significantly lower the maximum temperature in the battery module
but worsen the temperature uniformity in the module.