Battery Pack Cooling via Segmented Projecting Portions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery packs face challenges in effectively resisting binding forces and achieving efficient cooling, leading to excessive cooling fluid requirements, noise, and increased driving power consumption due to insufficient cooling performance.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design featuring multiple battery cells layered with wall-shaped projecting portions on their sides, forming fluid passages for cooling fluid flow, with enlarged projecting portions to enhance binding force resistance and heat transfer area, allowing for improved cooling performance with reduced fluid volume and power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If multiple wall-shaped projecting portions are provided on battery cells to resist binding force, then strength for resisting binding force is improved, but cooling performance deteriorates due to reduced heat transfer area
Solution Approach 1:
The projecting portions are segmented into two distinct types: wall-shaped projecting portions for structural support and enlarged projecting portions for cooling. This segmentation allows each type to specialize in its function without compromising the other, resolving the contradiction between strength and cooling performance.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the battery cell surface are given different properties: areas with wall-shaped projecting portions provide structural strength, while areas with enlarged projecting portions provide enhanced cooling. This local differentiation allows simultaneous optimization of both strength and cooling performance in different locations.
2Temperature
If excessive amount of cooling fluid is used to achieve sufficient cooling, then cooling performance is improved, but driving power and noise increase
Solution Approach 1:
The enlarged projecting portions serve dual functions: they provide structural support like traditional projecting portions, and simultaneously act as heat transfer surfaces for cooling. This self-service capability allows the structure to contribute to cooling without requiring additional cooling fluid or power.
Solution Approach 2:
The geometry of the projecting portions is changed from simple wall-shaped structures to enlarged structures with increased surface area. This parameter change in the structural design enables more effective heat transfer with reduced cooling fluid flow requirements, thereby reducing driving power and noise.
3Strength
If wall-shaped projecting portions are made thicker to increase strength, then binding force resistance is improved, but heat transfer area and cooling performance decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling structure is segmented into thin wall-shaped projecting portions for maintaining fluid passage accessibility and separate enlarged projecting portions for providing heat transfer area. This segmentation allows the thin walls to preserve cooling fluid flow while the enlarged portions compensate for reduced heat transfer area, resolving the contradiction between strength and heat transfer area.
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 effectively increases cooling performance while ensuring binding force resistance, achieving necessary cooling with less cooling fluid and power, and lower noise levels.
Implementation Method 1
fluid passages respectively formed between neighboring battery cells, so that cooling fluid flows through the fluid passages to cool-down the respective battery cells
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack has multiple wall-shaped projecting portions, which are provided on side surfaces of battery cells perpendicular to a layer direction X, extend in a flow direction of cooling fluid and arranged in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the cooling fluid, to form fluid passages between neighboring battery cells. It further has multiple enlarged projecting portions, which are provided at intermediate portions of the wall-shaped projecting portions extending in the flow direction of the cooling fluid and brought into contact with the neighboring battery cells to receive action force therefrom. An outer dimension of the enlarged projecting portions in the direction, in which the multiple wall-shaped projecting portions are arranged, is made larger than a thickness dimension of the wall-shaped projecting portions.