Thermal Simulation Analysis in Lithium-ion Battery Modules During High-rate Discharging Scenarios

This investigation addresses critical gaps in thermal safety research for lithium-ion batteries operating under extreme discharge conditions (10 C rate). We propose a hybrid thermal management system combining eight copper heat pipes with phase-change materials (PCMs), employing numerical simulations to quantify how heat pipe configuration and convective boundaries govern thermal runaway progression. A parametric framework systematically compares pure PCM configurations against heat pipe-PCM hybrid architectures under four convective coefficients $\left(5-100 \mathrm{W} / \mathrm{m}^{2} \cdot \mathrm{K}\right)$, solved through finite element analysis in ANSYS. Results demonstrate that while pure PCM systems exhibit peak temperatures decreasing from 453.31 K to 441.43 K with enhanced convection $(5 \rightarrow 100 \mathrm{W} / \mathrm{m}^{2} \cdot \mathrm{K})$, thermal inhomogeneity escalates from 70.85 K to 103.65 K. The heat pipe integration paradoxically reduces maximum temperatures by $0.9-1.2 \mathrm{K}$ (improving with convection intensity), revealing a critical tradeoff between bulk cooling efficiency and temperature uniformity. This dichotomy stems from heat pipes' dual role: effectively channeling highintensity joule heating $(>250 \text{kW} / \mathrm{m}^{3})$ while inducing localized thermal redistribution through anisotropic conductivity. The study establishes quantitative correlations between convective dissipation capacity and internal heat diffusion dynamics during extreme discharge, providing fundamental guidelines for optimizing next-generation battery thermal management systems.