A high-performance multiphysics simulation framework based on open-source CFD for lithium-ion batteries

The development of battery design is transitioning from traditional trial-and-error method to simulation-driven forward design which significantly enhances efficiency and reduces costs. The core of this transformation lies in high-performance numerical solvers. This study develops an electrochemical-thermal parallel solver tailored for lithium-ion battery based on the OpenFOAM platform. This solver innovatively adopts the heterogeneous model, which accurately characterizes the microstructure of porous electrode and depicts multi-physical and chemical processes within the battery. The verification for the accuracy of this framework is conducted through experiment and COMSOL simulations. The predicted terminal voltage curves maintain RMSE below 50 mV with experimental data across three C-rates. Furthermore, comparative analysis reveals less than 5 % ARD in the evolution of typical physical fields when benchmarked against COMSOL. To overcome the substantial computational demands caused by multiple domains and interfaces, the solver employs a novel domain partitioning-based parallel computing strategy. By ensuring all physical fields at each spatial location remain within a single compute core, this approach significantly improves computational efficiency. The solver provides the foundation for the development of next-generation high-performance batteries and the advancement of battery industry software.