Evaluation of numerical models for thermal analysis of prismatic lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries are a type of secondary cells composed of repeatedly stacked microscale plates consisting of electrodes and separators. Because the thermal behavior of a battery is closely connected with its performance and lifespan, investigation of the battery’s thermal characteristics is crucial for the design of cell products. However, in numerical simulations, allocating separate computing grids to various microstructures within the cell is ineffective in terms of computational costs. Thus, various numerical models have been introduced to predict the battery’s thermal behavior, such as the lumped capacitance model (LCM), equivalent detailed model (EDM), equivalent simple model (ESM), and others. However, assessment of the pros and cons of each model has not been carried out as yet. Therefore, in this study, the thermal behavior of a prismatic 185.3Ah lithium-ion battery during a discharging process was simulated using the LCM, EDM, and ESM approaches, and the performances of each model are discussed on the basis of the corresponding estimates for the thermal behaviors of a unit cell and cell module.