Thermo-Hydraulic Optimization of Parallel-Channel Cold Plates Using CFD: A Comparative Study of Cylindrical and Fin-Type Baffles for Battery Thermal Management

This study proposes two enhanced configurations for a parallel-channel cold plate in battery thermal management systems to improve thermo-hydraulic performance through the introduction of cylindrical and fin-type baffles. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed in ANSYS to simulate fluid flow and heat transfer within the cold plate. A Poly-Hexcore meshing strategy with local refinement and near-wall inflation layers was employed to ensure numerical accuracy while maintaining computational efficiency. A parametric investigation involving 150 cases was conducted to identify the optimal channel configuration. The results indicate that, among the investigated configurations and under the present numerical operating conditions, the fin-type baffle exhibits the most balanced thermo-hydraulic behavior by achieving an effective balance between heat-transfer enhancement and pressure-drop penalty. The present study provides a CFD-based framework for the design and optimization of parallel-channel cold plates for battery thermal management applications.