Geometry-Resolved Electro-Thermal Modeling of Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Cells Using 3D Simulation and Thermal Network Reduction

Baťa, Martin; Plzák, Milan; Uličný, Michal Miloslav; Gálik, Gabriel; Schörgenhumer, Markus; Berta, Šimon; Ürge, Andrej; Rosinová, Danica

doi:10.3390/en19020375

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Geometry-Resolved Electro-Thermal Modeling of Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Cells Using 3D Simulation and Thermal Network Reduction

by

Martin Baťa

^1,*

,

Milan Plzák

¹

,

Michal Miloslav Uličný

¹

,

Gabriel Gálik

¹

,

Markus Schörgenhumer

²

,

Šimon Berta

¹

,

Andrej Ürge

¹

and

Danica Rosinová

^1,*

¹

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, 841 04 Bratislava, Slovakia

²

Linz Center of Mechatronics GmbH, 4040 Linz, Austria

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Energies 2026, 19(2), 375; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19020375

Submission received: 2 December 2025 / Revised: 31 December 2025 / Accepted: 5 January 2026 / Published: 12 January 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy and Power Electronics Technology)

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Abstract

Accurate estimation of internal temperature is essential for safe operation and state estimation of lithium-ion batteries, yet it usually cannot be measured directly and requires physically grounded electro-thermal models. High fidelity 3D simulations capture geometry-dependent heat transfer behavior but are too computationally intensive for real-time use, whereas common lumped models cannot represent internal gradients. This work presents an integrated geometry-resolved workflow that combines detailed 3D finite volume thermal modeling with systematic reduction to a compact multi-node thermal network and its coupling with an equivalent circuit electrical model. A realistic 3D model of the Panasonic NCR18650B cell was reconstructed from computed tomography data and literature parameters and validated against published axial and radial thermal conductivity measurements. The automated reduction yields a five-node thermal network preserving radial temperature distribution, which was coupled with five parallel Battery Table-Based blocks in MATLAB/Simulink R2024b to capture spatially distributed heat generation. Experimental validation under dynamic loading is performed using measured surface temperature and terminal voltage, showing strong agreement (surface temperature MAE ≈ 0.43 °C, terminal voltage MAE ≈ 16 mV). The resulting model enables physically informed estimation of internal thermal behavior, is interpretable, computationally efficient, and suitable for digital twin development.

Keywords: lithium-ion cell; electro-thermal model; thermal network; finite volume simulation; cylindrical battery; model order reduction; equivalent-circuit model

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MDPI and ACS Style

Baťa, M.; Plzák, M.; Uličný, M.M.; Gálik, G.; Schörgenhumer, M.; Berta, Š.; Ürge, A.; Rosinová, D. Geometry-Resolved Electro-Thermal Modeling of Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Cells Using 3D Simulation and Thermal Network Reduction. Energies 2026, 19, 375. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19020375

AMA Style

Baťa M, Plzák M, Uličný MM, Gálik G, Schörgenhumer M, Berta Š, Ürge A, Rosinová D. Geometry-Resolved Electro-Thermal Modeling of Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Cells Using 3D Simulation and Thermal Network Reduction. Energies. 2026; 19(2):375. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19020375

Chicago/Turabian Style

Baťa, Martin, Milan Plzák, Michal Miloslav Uličný, Gabriel Gálik, Markus Schörgenhumer, Šimon Berta, Andrej Ürge, and Danica Rosinová. 2026. "Geometry-Resolved Electro-Thermal Modeling of Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Cells Using 3D Simulation and Thermal Network Reduction" Energies 19, no. 2: 375. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19020375

APA Style

Baťa, M., Plzák, M., Uličný, M. M., Gálik, G., Schörgenhumer, M., Berta, Š., Ürge, A., & Rosinová, D. (2026). Geometry-Resolved Electro-Thermal Modeling of Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Cells Using 3D Simulation and Thermal Network Reduction. Energies, 19(2), 375. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19020375

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Geometry-Resolved Electro-Thermal Modeling of Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Cells Using 3D Simulation and Thermal Network Reduction

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