Model Q-Bat - Battery Thermal Simulation Software
The unique feature of Q-Bat is its speed and 3-D accuracy. A transient simulation of an entire EV battery pack for the complete driving or charging profile goes within a few minutes on a desktop computer. And it produces 3-D temperature distribution like a CFD solver. Using Q-Bat means: real-time simulation of the entire EV battery pack, finite element formulation of the heat transfer problem, modelling all battery nonlinearities, import of 3-D CAD geometry or mesh files, integration with MATLAB, Simulink and others.
Due to its speed and accuracy Q-Bat allows for:
- CFD thermal modelling of battery pack components,
- geometry optimization,
- detailed battery cooling investigation in system-level simulations of the entire electric powetrain.
Q-Bat is like a CFD solver. The workflow starts with the CAD geometry of the battery pack. Alternatively, it can import CFD meshes. Next, you define material properties, boundary conditions and the electric current profile. Then, Q-Bat calculates finite element matrices, and the unique feature is its 3-D model order reduction to the eigenvectors space. Thanks to that, your desktop computer is able to generate time-dependent 3-D temperature distribution in each battery pack component within a few minutes. A good example?
- EV battery pack CFD mesh with 5 million finite elements,
- Simulation of a 30 minutes long driving profile,
- Less than 2 minutes on the Intel i7 PC.
Import of CAD Geometry or CFD Meshes
You can import battery pack CAD geometry from a *.step file or the mesh files. We support Ansys Fluent, Nastran, Star CCM+, Ansa and *.cgns mesh formats.
Model Wizard (script-based or GUI)
Building a battery simulation model in Q-Bat is quick. The setup wizard automatically detects repeating components (like electrochemical cells) and all contact surfaces.
Battery Models & Nonlinearities
Contrary to many CFD solvers or reduced-order models, Q-Bat already has equivalent circuit models of cells. Also, it accounts for varrying mass flow rate of the coolant or dependence of internal resistance on temperature and SOC.
Real-Time 3-D Thermal Simulations
The finite element dicretization makes it work like a CFD solver. The model-order reduction to the eigenvectors space makes it 100-1000x quicker than CFD. Still it gives 3-D temperature results with accuracy better than 1 degree C.
CFD and System-Level Powertrain Modelling
Q-Bat is a bridge between CFD and system-level battery simulations. The 3-D finite element thermal model can be exported as a Simulink block. Then, you can use it in any Simulink simulation as a detailed 3-D thermal battery model.
MATLAB & Simulink Integration
Q-Bat is built in MATLAB environment. Most functions also can be used in Simulink. You can also couple Q-Bat with Simscape Electrical for advanced electrical simulations. Or with Batemo cell models for detailed cell simulations.