Carbon fiber composites with 2D microvascular networks for battery cooling

Abstract Electric vehicle (EV) batteries require both thermal regulation and crash protection. A novel battery packaging scheme is presented that uses microvascular composite panels with 2D channel networks to accomplish both objectives. Microvascular carbon fiber/epoxy composite panels are fabricated by vacuum assisted resin transfer molding, with the channel network formed by post-cure vaporization of an embedded polylactide channel template. Panel cooling performance is evaluated for parallel, bifurcating, serpentine, and spiral channel designs at different coolant flow rates and channel diameter. The spiral design provides the best thermal performance, but requires high pumping pressure (>100 kPa) at the flow rates needed for adequate cooling (>30 mL min −1 ). The bifurcating design and a network obtained by computational optimization offer much lower pressure with slightly reduced thermal performance. Channel diameter has negligible effect on cooling performance, but strongly affects pumping pressure. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are also performed and correlate well with the experimental data. Simulations confirm that microvascular composite panels can cool typical battery cells generating 500 W m −2 heat flux below the target temperature of 40 °C.

[1]  Adrian P. Mouritz,et al.  Tensile and compressive properties of polymer laminates containing internal sensor cavities , 2008 .

[2]  James B. Robinson,et al.  In-operando high-speed tomography of lithium-ion batteries during thermal runaway , 2015, Nature Communications.

[3]  Shriram Santhanagopalan,et al.  Multi-Domain Modeling of Lithium-Ion Batteries Encompassing Multi-Physics in Varied Length Scales , 2011 .

[4]  S. Kandlikar,et al.  A critical review of cooling techniques in proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks , 2012 .

[5]  Soheil Soghrati,et al.  3D hierarchical interface-enriched finite element method: Implementation and applications , 2015, J. Comput. Phys..

[6]  Nancy R. Sottos,et al.  Multidimensional Vascularized Polymers using Degradable Sacrificial Templates , 2015 .

[7]  A. Mouritz,et al.  The effect of self-healing hollow fibres on the mechanical properties of polymer composites , 2010 .

[8]  Norbert Kockmann,et al.  Simulation and experimental investigation of pressure loss and heat transfer in microchannel networks containing bends and T-junctions , 2009 .

[9]  Tim Gilles.  Automotive Service: Inspection, Maintenance, Repair , 2007 .

[10]  Anthony Jarrett,et al.  Design optimization of electric vehicle battery cooling plates for thermal performance , 2011 .

[11]  Nancy R. Sottos,et al.  Computational analysis of actively-cooled 3D woven microvascular composites using a stabilized interface-enriched generalized finite element method , 2013 .

[12]  Zhaofeng Chen,et al.  Mechanical effects of microchannels on fiber-reinforced composite structure , 2016 .

[13]  D. Lukaszewicz.  Automotive Composite Structures for Crashworthiness , 2013 .

[14]  Jeffery W. Baur,et al.  Mechanical and thermal analysis of microvascular networks in structural composite panels , 2011 .

[15]  William R. Pogue,et al.  Multifunctional structure-battery composites for marine systems , 2013 .

[16]  Arun S. Mujumdar,et al.  Numerical investigation of laminar heat transfer performance of various cooling channel designs , 2011 .

[17]  Ian P Bond,et al.  Interactions between propagating cracks and bioinspired self-healing vascules embedded in glass fibre reinforced composites , 2011 .

[18]  S. Ravishankar,et al.  Numerical studies on thermal performance of novel cooling plate designs in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stacks , 2014 .

[19]  Nancy R. Sottos,et al.  Tensile properties and damage evolution in vascular 3D woven glass/epoxy composites , 2014 .

[20]  I. Bond,et al.  Optimisation of an air film cooled CFRP panel with an embedded vascular network , 2015 .

[21]  R S Trask,et al.  Characterization and analysis of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer composite laminates with embedded circular vasculature , 2010, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[22]  Philippe H. Geubelle,et al.  Gradient-based design of actively-cooled microvascular composite panels , 2016 .

[23]  Scott R White,et al.  Continuous Self‐Healing Life Cycle in Vascularized Structural Composites , 2014, Advanced materials.

[24]  Soheil Soghrati,et al.  NURBS enhanced HIFEM , 2016 .

[25]  Philippe H. Geubelle,et al.  A 3D interface-enriched generalized finite element method for weakly discontinuous problems with complex internal geometries , 2012 .

[26]  Darren J. Hartl,et al.  Effects of microchannels on the mechanical performance of multifunctional composite laminates with unidirectional laminae , 2016 .

[27]  Masoud Safdari,et al.  A gradient-based shape optimization scheme using an interface-enriched generalized FEM , 2015 .

[28]  I. Bond,et al.  Application of a silver–olefin coordination polymer as a catalytic curing agent for self-healing epoxy polymers , 2015 .

[29]  Adrian P. Mouritz,et al.  Interlaminar properties of polymer laminates containing internal sensor cavities , 2006 .

[30]  Nancy R. Sottos,et al.  Hybrid Materials: Three‐Dimensional Microvascular Fiber‐Reinforced Composites (Adv. Mater. 32/2011) , 2011 .

[31]  Masoud Safdari,et al.  A NURBS-based interface-enriched generalized finite element scheme for the thermal analysis and design of microvascular composites , 2015 .

[32]  Anthony M. Coppola,et al.  Survival of actively cooled microvascular polymer matrix composites under sustained thermomechanical loading , 2016 .

[33]  Nancy R. Sottos,et al.  Active Cooling of a Microvascular Shape Memory Alloy‐Polymer Matrix Composite Hybrid Material   , 2016 .

[34]  Stephen J. Pety.  Microvascular composites as a multifunctional material for electric vehicles , 2017 .

[35]  Rodrigo Palma-Behnke,et al.  Multi-objective optimal design of lithium-ion battery packs based on evolutionary algorithms , 2014 .

[36]  Nancy R. Sottos,et al.  Retention of mechanical performance of polymer matrix composites above the glass transition temperature by vascular cooling , 2015 .

[37]  Peiwen Li,et al.  CFD study of liquid-cooled heat sinks with microchannel flow field configurations for electronics, fuel cells, and concentrated solar cells , 2011 .

[38]  Said Al-Hallaj,et al.  An alternative cooling system to enhance the safety of Li-ion battery packs , 2009 .

[39]  I. Bond,et al.  Repeated self-healing of microvascular carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites , 2014 .

[40]  Shailendra Kaushik,et al.  Modeling of Battery Pack Thermal System for a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle , 2011 .

[41]  Fan He,et al.  Combined experimental and numerical study of thermal management of battery module consisting of multiple Li-ion cells , 2014 .

[42]  L. Asp,et al.  Structural power composites , 2014 .

[43]  Gregory H. Huff,et al.  A liquid metal-based structurally embedded vascular antenna: I. Concept and multiphysical modeling , 2017 .

[44]  Zhaofeng Chen,et al.  Manufacturing strategies for microvascular polymeric composites: A review , 2015 .

[45]  T. Fuller,et al.  A Critical Review of Thermal Issues in Lithium-Ion Batteries , 2011 .

[46]  Nobuo Takeda,et al.  Sensing and healing of disbond in composite stiffened panel using hierarchical system , 2015 .

[47]  Jeremy Neubauer,et al.  Thru-life impacts of driver aggression, climate, cabin thermal management, and battery thermal management on battery electric vehicle utility , 2014 .

[49]  Ian P Bond,et al.  Self‐Healing Fibre Reinforced Composites via a Bioinspired Vasculature , 2011 .

[50]  Anthony Jarrett,et al.  Influence of operating conditions on the optimum design of electric vehicle battery cooling plates , 2014 .

[51]  Soheil Soghrati,et al.  NURBS enhanced HIFEM : A fully mesh-independent method with zero geometric discretization error , 2016 .

[52]  Ian P Bond,et al.  The Role Of Embedded Bioinspired Vasculature On Damage Formation In Self-Healing Carbon Fibre Reinforced Composites , 2011 .

[53]  Darren J. Hartl,et al.  A liquid metal-based structurally embedded vascular antenna: II. Multiobjective and parameterized design exploration , 2017 .

[54]  Magnus Rohde,et al.  Thermal behavior and electrochemical heat generation in a commercial 40 Ah lithium ion pouch cell , 2015 .

[55]  Ibrahim Dincer,et al.  Experimental and Theoretical Efficiency Investigation of Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery Thermal Management Systems , 2014 .

[56]  C. Hansen.  Microvascular-based self-healing materials , 2015 .

[57]  A. Greco,et al.  A theoretical and computational study of lithium-ion battery thermal management for electric vehicles using heat pipes , 2014 .