An Active Thermography approach for materials characterisation of thermal management systems for Lithium-ion batteries

The aim of this work is an alternative non destructive technique for estimating the thermal properties of four different Thermal Management System (TMS) materials. More in detail, a thermographic setup realized with the Active Thermography approach (AT) is utilized for the purpose and the data elaboration follows the ISO 18755 Standard. As well known, Phase Changes Materials (PCMs) represent an innovative solution in the Thermal Management System (TMS) of Lithium-Ion batteries and, during the years, many solutions were developed to improve its thermal properties. As a matter of fact, parameters such as the internal temperature or heat exchanges impact on both efficiency and safety of the whole battery system. Consequently, the thermal conductivity was often chosen as a performance indicator of Thermal Management System (TMS) materials. In this work, both thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity were estimated in two different testing conditions, respectively at room temperature and higher temperature conditions. The Active Thermography (AT) technique proposed in this activity has satisfactory estimated both thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of Thermal Management System (TMS) materials. An analytical model was also developed to reproduce the temperature experimental profiles. Finally, results obtained with AT approach were compared to those available from commercial datasheet and literature.