Thermal Gap Pad for Prismatic Battery Pack Heat Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery packs face challenges in maintaining suitable operating temperatures, particularly at low ambient temperatures, due to inefficient heat transfer between voltaic cell modules and substrates, where silicone greases used as gap fillers are difficult to apply consistently and do not provide adequate dielectric isolation.
Innovation Solution
A battery pack design incorporating a mechanically coupled substrate with electrically insulating thermal gap pads, comprising a dielectric sheet supporting a deformable layer, which enhances heat transfer, provides dielectric isolation, and reduces mechanical stress by filling gaps between modules and substrates, thereby improving thermal conductivity and vibration dampening.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If silicone grease is used as gap filler, then heat transfer between modules and substrate is improved, but dielectric isolation becomes inadequate and application consistency becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite thermal gap pad structure consisting of a foam core layer with thermally conductive filler particles embedded in an electrically insulating polymer matrix. This composite material simultaneously achieves high thermal conductivity for efficient heat transfer and adequate dielectric strength for reliable electrical isolation, resolving the contradiction between thermal performance and dielectric properties that plagues single-material solutions like silicone grease.
Solution Approach 2:
The thermal gap pad acts as an intermediary material between the battery modules and substrate, mediating both thermal and electrical interactions. It provides a controlled interface that facilitates heat transfer while maintaining electrical isolation, replacing the inadequate silicone grease layer with a purpose-designed intermediate component that handles both functions reliably.
2Reliability
If air gaps between modules and substrate are left unfilled, then dielectric isolation is maintained, but heat transfer efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The thermal gap pad material exhibits local quality differentiation through its composite structure: the polymer matrix provides dielectric isolation in regions where electrical insulation is critical, while thermally conductive filler particles concentrated in the same material provide heat transfer pathways. This local differentiation of functional properties within a single component allows simultaneous achievement of both dielectric isolation and heat transfer efficiency.
3Temperature
If rigid thermal conductive material is used to fill gaps, then heat transfer is improved, but mechanical stress and vibration damage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The thermal gap pad utilizes a foam-based flexible structure that can deform and accommodate mechanical stresses and vibrations without transmitting damaging forces to the battery modules or substrate. The flexible foam matrix maintains intimate thermal contact while absorbing mechanical energy, resolving the contradiction between rigid thermal conduction and mechanical stress resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The foam structure converts potentially harmful mechanical vibrations and stresses into beneficial compressive deformation that maintains thermal contact. The flexible material absorbs vibration energy through elastic deformation, transforming mechanical stress that would otherwise damage rigid components into a beneficial self-adjusting mechanism that ensures continuous thermal contact.
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 solution effectively maintains suitable operating temperatures by improving heat transfer and dielectric isolation, reducing mechanical stress, and preventing air infiltration, which enhances the reliability and performance of battery packs under varying thermal conditions.
Implementation Method 1
Efficient heat transfer between the modules and the substrate may require at least a partial filling of air gaps—gaps between the modules, gaps between the modules and the substrate, etc.—with a thermally conductive material
Implementation Method 2
A section of an electrically insulating thermal gap pad is arranged between the module and the substrate. The pad includes a dielectric sheet supporting a deformable layer
Implementation Method 3
A substrate is mechanically coupled to the module and configured to receive excess heat therefrom
Data Source
AI summary
A battery pack includes at least one voltaic cell module. A substrate is mechanically coupled to the module and configured to receive excess heat therefrom. A section of an electrically insulating thermal gap pad is arranged between the module and the substrate. The pad includes a dielectric sheet supporting a deformable layer.