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Bio-Inspired Liquid-Cooled Plates for Enhanced Local Hotspot Dissipation in Lithium-Ion Battery Thermal Management
Xuguang Yang1,2, Zhihui Wang1,2, Xiaohua Gu1,2,3
1School of Energy and Building Environment, Guilin University of Aerospace Technology, Guilin 541004, China.
Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 25, 2026
Summary
Bio-inspired liquid-cooled plate channels significantly improve lithium-ion battery thermal management in electric vehicles. Honeycomb designs offer superior hotspot dissipation and efficiency compared to conventional methods.
Area of Science:
- Thermal Management
- Bio-inspired Engineering
- New-Energy Vehicles
Background:
- Lithium-ion batteries in new-energy vehicles require effective thermal management to prevent hotspots.
- Existing liquid-cooled plate channels face challenges in optimizing heat dissipation.
- Bio-inspired designs offer potential for novel and efficient cooling solutions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare various bio-inspired liquid-cooled plate channel designs for enhanced thermal management.
- To optimize bio-inspired channel designs for improved thermohydraulic performance.
- To evaluate the performance of optimized bio-inspired channels against conventional designs.
Main Methods:
- Three-dimensional numerical simulations were employed to analyze laminar flow.
- Leaf vein-, tree branch-, honeycomb-, and spider web-inspired channel designs were simulated and compared.
- Optimization techniques were applied to enhance thermohydraulic performance.
- Simulated channels were evaluated against conventional structures.
Main Results:
- The honeycomb-inspired channel demonstrated the best performance in hotspot dissipation.
- Tree branch- and spider web-inspired channels showed comparable, superior performance to leaf vein-inspired channels.
- Optimized honeycomb channels achieved a 44.0-49.3% increase in Nusselt number and 81% comprehensive performance enhancement.
- Thermal resistance decreased by 2.6-9.2%, and pumping power was reduced by 50.0-56.8% compared to conventional channels.
Conclusions:
- Bio-inspired designs, particularly the honeycomb structure, significantly enhance thermal management in lithium-ion batteries.
- Longitudinal branch channels are crucial for minimizing stagnant flow zones and mitigating hotspots.
- Optimized bio-inspired channels offer superior thermohydraulic performance, reduced thermal resistance, and lower energy consumption for cooling.
