Performance analysis of battery thermal management system composed of copper foam/paraffin and wavy liquid cooling microchannels

A hybrid battery thermal management system integrating copper foam/paraffin composite phase change material (CPCM) with wavy liquid channels is proposed to enhance thermal regulation. Through parametric analysis at 25 °C under 3 C–0.5 C charge/discharge cycle, key operational characteristics were identified. Increased flow rate reduces maximum temperature and liquid fraction while initially elevating then decreasing temperature difference, with the pressure drop increasing rapidly at 0.06 m s−1. Reducing the porosity or increasing the pore density improves the homogeneity and optimizes the liquid distribution, the liquid phase shifts from cell interstices to boundaries during 0.5 C discharge. Lower phase change temperatures decrease the temperature difference while increasing liquid fraction significantly. Elevated inlet temperatures accelerate system warm-up under low-temperature conditions, while latent heat absorption of CPCM prevents localized overheating and extends thermal retention. The design maintains safe temperature operational limits with peak temperature difference at 10 °C during sequential cycles, achieving 21.69 % improvement in effective mass-energy density despite 24.53 % theoretical density reduction from added mass. The proposed hybrid system exhibits superior to cooling performance and low-temperature performance, demonstrating its potential for application in efficient battery thermal management.