Topology-optimized liquid cooling plates for low-temperature battery preheating: A multi-objective thermal management strategy

The performance of lithium-ion batteries in low-temperature environments will be significantly degraded due to the hysteresis of electrochemical reaction dynamics and the increase of internal resistance, so an efficient preheating strategy is urgently needed. Therefore, in this study, a novel multi-objective topology optimization framework is proposed for the design of liquid-cooled cold plates to solve the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic challenges in the preheating of low-temperature batteries. By integrating temperature uniformity, heating rate, and energy loss minimization goals, this method provides a sustainable thermal management technology for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. The optimized design showed excellent performance in the comparative test of traditional parallel flow channels and bionic spider web flow channels: the average heating rate increased by 7 %, the temperature deviation was controlled within 5 °C, and the pressure drop was reduced by 74.4 %.The numerical research further reveals the influence of flow rate, coolant temperature and battery configuration on system efficiency, and highlights the adaptability of topology-optimized cold plates in large-scale applications.These findings are highly consistent with the goals of the special issue and provide an innovative thermal management solution that can improve energy efficiency, reduce operating costs, and support the transformation of low-carbon transportation.The research combines computational design with engineering practice to provide practical insights into a new generation of battery systems in extreme environments.