Analysis of thermal management and anti-mechanical abuse of multi-functional battery modules based on magneto-sensitive shear thickening fluid

Electric vehicles(EVs)have garnered significant attention as a vital driver of economic growth and environmental sustainability.Nevertheless,ensuring the safety of high-energy batteries is now a top priority that cannot be overlooked during large-scale applications.This paper proposes an innovative active protection and cooling integrated battery module using smart materials,magneto-sensitive shear thickening fluid(MSTF),which is specifically designed to address safety threats posed by lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)exposed to harsh mechanical and environmental conditions.The theoretical framework introduces a novel approach for harnessing the smoothed-particle hydrodynamics(SPH)methodology that incorporates the intricate interplay of non-Newtonian fluid behavior,capturing the fluid-structure coupling inherent to the MSTF.This approach is further advanced by adopting an enhanced Herschel-Bulkley(H-B)model to encapsulate the intricate rheology of the MSTF under the influence of the magnetorheological effect(MRE)and shear thickening(ST)behavior.Numerical simulation results show that in the case of cooling,the MSTF is an effective cooling medium for rapidly reducing the temperature.In terms of mechanical abuse,the MSTF solidifies through actively applying the magnetic field during mechanical compression and impact within the battery module,resulting in 66%and 61.7%reductions in the maximum stress within the battery jellyroll,and 31.1%and 23%reductions in the reaction force,respectively.This mechanism effectively lowers the risk of short-circuit failure.The groundbreaking concepts unveiled in this paper for active protection battery modules are anticipated to be a valuable technological breakthrough in the areas of EV safety and lightweight/integrated design.

Experimental Study on the Effect of State of Charge on Failure Propagation Characteristics within Battery Modules

To investigate the effect of different states of charge(SOC)on the thermal runaway(TR)propagation behaviors within lithium-ion-batteries based energy storage modules,an experimental setup was developed to conduct failure propagation tests on battery modules at an SOC of 97%,85%,and 50%.The result indicates that an increase in the SOC of batteries can decrease the TR trigger temperature,making batteries trigger TR earlier and reducing the average failure propagation time between two adjacent cells.In addition,the failure propagation tests reveal that at higher SOCs,the TR reaction becomes more violent,the maximal reaction temperature is also much higher,and the damage to the battery module is severe.Compared to the battery module with 97%SOC,the TR trigger time of the battery module with 50%SOC was postponed by approximately 57.8%.Meanwhile,the average failure propagation time got prolonged by approximately 36.0%.Thus,this study can provide references for the thermal safety design of energy-storage battery modules.

Sandwich structured ultra-strong-heat-shielding aerogel/copper composite insulation board for safe lithium-ion batteries modules

The fire hazard of lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)modules is extremely serious due to their high capacity.Moreover,once a battery catches fire,it can easily result in a fire of the entire LIBs modules.In this work,a sandwich structure composite thermal insulation(STI)board(copper//silica dioxide aerogel//copper)with the advantages of low thermal conductivity(0.031 W m-1K-1),low surface radiation emissivity(0.1)and good thermal convection inhibition effect has been designed.The thermal runaway(TR)occurrence time of adjacent LIBs increases from 1384 s to more than 6 h+due to the protection of STI board.No TR propagation occurs within LIBs modules with protect of a STI board when a battery catches fire.The ultra-strong-heat-shielding mechanism of STI board has been revealed.The TR propagation of LIBs modules has been insulated effectively by STI board through reducing the heat transfer of convection,conduction and radiation.The air flow rate between the heater and LIBs and radiant heat absorbed by LIBs decrease by 63.5%and 35.1%with protection of STI board,respectively.A high temperature difference inside the STI board is also formed.This work provides direction for the designing of safe thermal insulation board for LIBs modules.

An Air‑Rechargeable Zn Battery Enabled by Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Cathode

Self-charging power systems collecting energy harvesting technology and batteries are attracting extensive attention.To solve the disadvantages of the traditional integrated system,such as highly dependent on energy supply and complex structure,an airrechargeable Zn battery based on MoS_(2)/PANI cathode is reported.Benefited from the excellent conductivity desolvation shield of PANI,the MoS_(2)/PANI cathode exhibits ultra-high capacity(304.98 mAh g^(−1) in N_(2) and 351.25 mAh g^(−1) in air).In particular,this battery has the ability to collect,convert and store energy simultaneously by an airrechargeable process of the spontaneous redox reaction between the discharged cathode and O2 from air.The air-rechargeable Zn batteries display a high open-circuit voltage(1.15 V),an unforgettable discharge capacity(316.09 mAh g^(−1) and the air-rechargeable depth is 89.99%)and good air-recharging stability(291.22 mAh g^(−1) after 50 air recharging/galvanostatic current discharge cycle).Most importantly,both our quasi-solid zinc ion batteries and batteries modules have excellent performance and practicability.This work will provide a promising research direction for the material design and device assembly of the next-generation self-powered system.

A multifunctional battery module design for electric vehicle

Reducing the overall vehicle weight is an efficient,system-level approach to increase the drive range of electric vehicle,for which structural parts in auto-frame may be replaced by battery modules.Such battery modules must be structurally functional,e.g.,energy absorbing,while the battery cells are not necessarily loading–carrying.We designed and tested a butterfly-shaped battery module of prismatic cells,which could self-unfold when subjected to a compressive loading.Angle guides and frictionless joints were employed to facilitate the large deformation.Desired resistance to external loading was offered by additional energy absorption elements.The battery-module behavior and the battery-cell performance were controlled separately.Numerical simulation verified the experimental results.

A Fast Charging–Cooling Coupled Scheduling Method for a Liquid Cooling-Based Thermal Management System for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Efficient fast-charging technology is necessary for the extension of the driving range of electric vehicles.However,lithium-ion cells generate immense heat at high-current charging rates.In order to address this problem,an efficient fast charging–cooling scheduling method is urgently needed.In this study,a liquid cooling-based thermal management system equipped with mini-channels was designed for the fastcharging process of a lithium-ion battery module.A neural network-based regression model was proposed based on 81 sets of experimental data,which consisted of three sub-models and considered three outputs:maximum temperature,temperature standard deviation,and energy consumption.Each sub-model had a desirable testing accuracy(99.353%,97.332%,and 98.381%)after training.The regression model was employed to predict all three outputs among a full dataset,which combined different charging current rates(0.5C,1C,1.5C,2C,and 2.5C(1C=5 A))at three different charging stages,and a range of coolant rates(0.0006,0.0012,and 0.0018 kg·s^(-1)).An optimal charging–cooling schedule was selected from the predicted dataset and was validated by the experiments.The results indicated that the battery module’s state of charge value increased by 0.5 after 15 min,with an energy consumption lower than 0.02 J.The maximum temperature and temperature standard deviation could be controlled within 33.35 and 0.8C,respectively.The approach described herein can be used by the electric vehicles industry in real fast-charging conditions.Moreover,optimal fast charging-cooling schedule can be predicted based on the experimental data obtained,that in turn,can significantly improve the efficiency of the charging process design as well as control energy consumption during cooling.