Design and CFD Simulation of a Battery Module for a Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery Pack

Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis was performed using FLUENT to analyze the fluid thermal performance of a Battery cell container for the Ford Fusion Hybrid Electric Vehicle. The objective of the design was to maintain the cells in their desired operating temperature range with a near uniform temperature among the battery cells in the container, while minimizing energy losses associated with the pressure drop. Groupings of multiple such containers were assembled for bench test confirmation. Excellent agreement was obtained for air side pressure drop between the CFD and hardware physical properties. Multiple design iterations were made to improve the baseline design. Ultimately, the thermal gradient within the physical property was reduced to 1.8°C with a minimal increase in system pressure drop.