Air-cooled battery thermal management system integrated with bionic shark structures based on PEG1500/EG/BN/TPE flexible composite
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GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
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PUBLIC SUMMARY
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A bionic shark-scale structure optimizes composite phase change material (PCM) for electric vehicle battery thermal management system (BTMS) with axial air cooling.
Four cooling modes and pressure drop tests are conducted; validated simulations explore the heat dissipation mechanism of bionic structures.
Under 2C discharge, this hybrid scheme cuts temperature rise to 49.30% of natural convection and caps peak temperature at 50.90 °C.
Multi-dimensional structural optimization achieves the best layout, lowering average battery temperature to 46.11 °C for BTMS heat sink design.
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ABSTRACT
To improve the heat dissipation efficiency of electric vehicle battery thermal management system (BTMS), a bionic shark-scale structure was proposed to optimize the thermal performance of flexible composite phase change material (PCM), with axial air cooling integrated to regulate the battery temperature. Experiments were conducted under four conditions, i.e., natural convection, air cooling, air cooling coupled with PCM, and air cooling coupled with bionic shark-scale PCM, to evaluate the thermal behaviour performance. In addition, pressure drop tests were conducted to assess the drag-reduction effects of the bionic structures. A numerical simulation model was also built with the validation of experimental data, which was subsequently applied to investigate the heat dissipation mechanisms and influences of the bionic structure together with optimization. The results show that, under a 2C discharge, the temperature rise of the battery pack of air-cooled coupled with bionic shark-scale PCM is only 49.30% of that under natural convection, while the maximum surface temperature is controlled at 50.90 °C, ensuring the safe operation. At an airflow velocity of 1.30 m/s, the duct pressure drop of the bionic PCM is slight lower than that of the smooth PCM. Subsequently, the bionic shark-scale structure is further optimized in terms of axial aspect ratio, lateral structure, rib row number, and rib arrangement. The optimal configuration achieves an average battery pack temperature of 46.11 °C, with a fish scale aspect ratio of 0.5, a side structure of CR400AF, and 13 rows arranged in a cross pattern. The present research provides insights into the effective design of heat sink of BTMS. -
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REFERENCES
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Xiao X., Xu W. and Yao M. (2026). Air-cooled battery thermal management system integrated with bionic shark structures based on PEG1500/EG/BN/TPE flexible composite. The Innovation Energy 3:100182. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-energy.2026.100182
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Xiao X., Xu W. and Yao M. (2026). Air-cooled battery thermal management system integrated with bionic shark structures based on PEG1500/EG/BN/TPE flexible composite. The Innovation Energy 3:100182. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-energy.2026.100182
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Figure 1.
Whole BTMS: (A) Schematic diagram of BTMS; (B) Physical photograph of BTMS; (C) Front view of thermocouple arrangement; (D) Side view of thermocouple arrangement; (E) Schematic diagram of pressure drop system; (F) Physical photograph of pressure drop system. Schematic diagram of bionic heat sink: (G) Concept of heat sink of bionic scale structure; (H) Pressing mould; (I) Bionic heat sink of CPCM.
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Figure 2.
Temperature variations at each measuring point of 2C battery discharge experiments
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Figure 3.
Verification of temperature of simulated model at 2C discharge
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Figure 4.
Verification of pressure drop of simulated model at 2C discharge
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Figure 5.
Schematic diagram of measurement points
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Figure 6.
Simulation results of batteries with different aspect ratios
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Figure 7.
Rib lateral structure optimization
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Figure 8.
Simulation results of batteries with different row numbers
