Thermal-Mass Trade-Off Analysis of Cu-Al Bimetallic Fins in PCM-Based Battery Thermal Management

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-764-4_5How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Battery thermal management system; Lithium-ion battery; Phase change material; Bimetallic fins; Thermal-mass trade-off

Abstract

Efficient thermal management is essential for maintaining the performance, safety, and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Phase change material (PCM)-based battery thermal management systems are attractive due to their high latent heat storage capacity and passive operation. However, the low thermal conductivity of most PCMs restricts heat dissipation and may cause localized temperature rise within battery cells. To address this limitation, metallic fins are commonly incorporated into the PCM domain to enhance heat transfer. In this study, the thermal-mass trade-off associated with Cu-Al bimetallic fins in a PCM-based battery thermal management system is numerically investigated for a cylindrical 18650 lithium-ion cell. The system consists of four radial fins embedded within PCM, and simulations are performed under a 2C discharge condition with an external convective heat transfer coefficient of 5 W/m²K. The influence of PCM thickness (4, 8, and 12 mm) and fin material composition (100Al, 25Cu-75Al, 50Cu-50Al, 75Cu-25Al, and 100Cu) is analysed. The results show that increasing PCM thickness improves thermal buffering but reduces the rate of PCM melting due to the larger latent heat capacity. Incorporating copper into the fins significantly enhances heat spreading and PCM activation compared with aluminium fins. Bimetallic fin configurations achieve PCM melting behaviour comparable to pure copper fins while reducing copper usage, indicating their potential for efficient and lightweight battery thermal management systems.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - B. Nithesh
AU  - T. Srihari Vikram
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - Thermal-Mass Trade-Off Analysis of Cu-Al Bimetallic Fins in PCM-Based Battery Thermal Management
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Mechanics, Materials and Mechatronics (ICM³ 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 51
EP  - 64
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-764-4_5
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-764-4_5
ID  - Nithesh2026
ER  -