ISSN 2360-7955
Abstract
The present study investigates a hybrid phase change material–heat pipe (PCM–HP) configuration for the thermal management of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicle (EV) applications. A transient heat transfer model was developed to simulate battery temperature evolution under charge–discharge cycles, accounting for heat conduction, latent heat absorption, and convective dissipation. The model incorporated geometry and material parameterization of the PCM domain and heat pipes, using literature-sourced properties and a meshed computational domain refined through convergence analysis. Boundary conditions were set to emulate realistic thermal loads and ambient variations. A parametric sensitivity analysis was carried out to assess the influence of PCM volume, fin density, and heat pipe spacing on peak temperature, thermal uniformity, and energy efficiency. The results substantiate that integrating heat pipes within PCM-fin assemblies markedly enhances thermal regulation, achieving substantial temperature reduction and improved uniformity under high-power operation. Furthermore, the optimization framework demonstrated the ability to balance competing objectives such as maximum cell temperature and auxiliary cooling demand, identifying near–Pareto-optimal design configurations. Overall, the hybrid PCM–HP system presents a viable, energy-efficient, and scalable solution for EV battery packs, reducing reliance on active cooling and mitigating thermal stress to extend battery life and reliability.
Keywords: Electric vehicles (EVs); Lithium-ion batteries; Thermal management system (TMS); Phase change materials (PCM); Heat pipes; Hybrid cooling; Numerical simulation; Energy efficiency