Abstract:
In this paper, the effect of vibration on a passive Battery Thermal Management (BTM) system was investigated. The passive BTM system includes phase change material (PCM) in a container of fixed dimension which hosts a battery pack of simulated battery cells. Rubitherm® 35HC PCM is used in the current investigation with a goal to keep the battery temperature within the range of 25 ºC to 45 ºC. The simulated battery was made with aluminum cylinders containing ceramic cartridge heaters at their cores, which mimic 2300 mAh 18650 Lithium-ion batteries. A comprehensive experimental setup was constructed using a controllable shaker and equipped with sensors (i.e., vibration and temperature) and DAQ systems (i.e., NI DAQ). A series of experimental tests were carried out to study the transient thermal field behaviour of the battery pack under various discharge rates (i.e., 1C to 5C). The ranges of applied frequency and amplitude during the experiments are 20 to 30 Hz and 30 mm/s to 50 mm/s, respectively, which are typically observed in plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) on the road during normal operation. At the individual battery as the vibration frequency increased the rate of temperature rises increased. The same phenomenon was observed with a change in amplitude of vibration. Although the behaviour was observed in most battery temperatures profiles, it was not observed at every single battery. The behaviour of the cells in the centre of the battery pack was different as compared with the cells in the corners. In every case, the cells in the corners were cooler as compared with the batteries in the centre.