Dual-Sided Battery Pack Cooling With Pillar-Supported Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing demand for safety in secondary batteries used for mobility, particularly in preventing accidents such as fires, necessitates improved cooling technologies to maintain battery temperature and enhance stability.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design that includes a housing with a plate part, a battery assembly with multiple cells, a cooling device spaced apart from the plate part with the battery assembly in between, and connecting pillars to support the cooling device. The cooling device features upper cooling channels parallel to the plate part, and a thermal interface material layer mediates heat between the battery cells and the cooling device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If cooling channels are added above and below battery assemblies, then cooling performance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling device integrates both upper cooling channels (in the cooling device) and lower cooling channels (in the plate part) into a unified cooling system. The connecting pillars with vertical cooling channels link the upper and lower cooling channels, creating a combined cooling network that efficiently removes heat from battery assemblies from both top and bottom surfaces simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling system transitions from single-sided cooling to dual-sided cooling by adding cooling channels in the vertical dimension (above and below battery assemblies). The connecting pillars extend vertically to connect upper and lower cooling channels, utilizing the third dimension (height) to create a three-dimensional cooling network that enhances heat dissipation efficiency.
2Stability of the object's composition
If connecting pillars are added to support cooling device, then structural stability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting pillars serve multiple functions simultaneously: (1) providing structural support for the cooling device, (2) containing vertical cooling channels to connect upper and lower cooling systems, and (3) acting as thermal conduction paths between battery assemblies and cooling channels. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate support structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The connecting pillars act as intermediary elements between the plate part and the cooling device, providing both mechanical support and thermal connection. They mediate the interaction between structural requirements and cooling requirements, integrating support and cooling functions in a single component.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enhances cooling performance by providing cooling channels above and below the battery assemblies, improves stability through horizontal support of partition assemblies by connecting pillars, and prevents swelling of battery cells, thereby addressing safety concerns and improving battery pack performance.
Implementation Method 1
a thermal interface material (TIM) layer interposed between the battery assembly and the cooling device and including a thermal resin
Implementation Method 2
a cooling device spaced apart from the plate part with the battery assembly interposed therebetween... a plurality of upper cooling channels that extend in a first direction parallel to the upper surface of the plate part
Data Source
AI summary
According to an embodiment of the present technology, a battery pack may include a housing with a plate part, a battery assembly disposed on an upper surface of the plate part of the housing and including a plurality of battery cells, a cooling device spaced apart from the plate part with plurality the battery assembly interposed therebetween, and a plurality of connecting pillars interposed between the cooling device and the plate part and configured to support the cooling device. The cooling device may include a plurality of upper cooling channels that extend in a first direction parallel to the upper surface of the plate part. The plurality of upper cooling channels may be parallel to the upper surface of the plate part, and may be spaced apart from each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.