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Tutorials
Tutorials show you how to use Simcenter STAR-CCM+ for various applications in a step-by-step format with recommendations for setup, initialization and steps of the solution process specific to the application. Macro and simulation files are available for download for a large proportion of cases.
Battery
The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for setting up a battery model:
Thermal Runaway: Battery Pack Heat Release and Venting
Thermal runaway in batteries occurs when a battery cell overheats due to thermal or mechanical failure, short-circuiting, or overcharging/over-discharging. At elevated temperatures, the battery cell materials can start to decompose in exothermic reactions, leading to self-heating behavior. When the self-heating of the battery cell exceeds the rate at which heat can be dissipated to the surroundings, the cell temperature rises exponentially, the battery structure can rupture, and all remaining thermal and electrochemical energy is released to the surroundings.
Analyzing the Results
Once the simulation has finished running, you can analyze the results and effects of the Thermal Runaway Heat Release model and Thermal Runaway Battery Vent Model on the battery.

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Tutorials
Tutorials show you how to use Simcenter STAR-CCM+ for various applications in a step-by-step format with recommendations for setup, initialization and steps of the solution process specific to the application. Macro and simulation files are available for download for a large proportion of cases.
- Using Tutorial Macros and Files
  Macros, input files, and final simulation files for a range of tutorials are provided as an optional download package on the Support Center website. These macros and final simulation files are provided as an aid to the written tutorials, so that you can check your final results against the downloaded files, or against a simulation that is built and run using the macros.
- Introduction
  Welcome to the Simcenter STAR-CCM+ introductory tutorial. In this tutorial, you explore the important concepts and workflow. Complete this tutorial before attempting any others.
- Foundation Tutorials
  The foundation tutorials showcase the major features of Simcenter STAR-CCM+ in a series of short tutorials.
- Geometry
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for creating and working with parts and 3D-CAD.
- Mesh
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various STAR-CCM+ features for building CFD meshes.
- Incompressible Flow
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for incompressible fluid flows as well as porosity and solution recording
- Compressible Flow
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for compressible fluid flows as well as harmonic balance.
- Heat Transfer and Radiation
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for heat transfer, radiation, and thermal comfort.
- Multiphase Flow
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for simulating multiphase fluid flow problems
- Discrete Element Method
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for simulating Discrete Element Method problems
- Motion
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various STAR-CCM+ features for simulating problems with moving geometries and meshes, dynamic fluid body interaction, and rigid body motion:
- Reacting Flow
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for simulating reacting flows such as combustion.
- Solid Stress
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for computing deformation, strain, and stresses in solid regions. They also show how such computations can be coupled to the fluid behavior in an analysis of fluid-structure interaction.
- Aeroacoustics
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for solving aeroacoustic simulations.
- Electromagnetism
  The following tutorials illustrate features for solving problems that involve electromagnetic fields.
- Electrochemistry
  The following tutorial demonstrates chemical reactions induced by an electrical current.
- Battery
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for setting up a battery model:
  - Electro-Thermal Modeling: Battery Pack Cooling
    The design of battery pack thermal management is critical in order to ensure that the battery pack operates in a safe temperature range. The objective is to prevent any part of the pack from overheating or from operating in too low temperature conditions. If the battery pack is not sized accordingly, the temperature can accelerate its aging, create an imbalance of the modules and cells in the pack, or lead to hazardous situations.
  - Thermal Runaway: Battery Pack Heat Release and Venting
    Thermal runaway in batteries occurs when a battery cell overheats due to thermal or mechanical failure, short-circuiting, or overcharging/over-discharging. At elevated temperatures, the battery cell materials can start to decompose in exothermic reactions, leading to self-heating behavior. When the self-heating of the battery cell exceeds the rate at which heat can be dissipated to the surroundings, the cell temperature rises exponentially, the battery structure can rupture, and all remaining thermal and electrochemical energy is released to the surroundings.
    - Loading the Starting Simulation File
      You are provided with a starting simulation file that contains the battery module geometry, pre-defined mesh operations, regions, interfaces, generated reports, monitors and plots. The file also includes two tables, Heat Rate and Vent Rate, which define the heating rate for the Thermal Runaway Heat Release and Thermal Runaway Battery Vent models.
    - Specifying the Non-Stack Solid Material Properties
      The solids that are not part of the battery stacks consist of different solid materials. These solid materials are modeled by a multi-part solid.
    - Triggering the Thermal Runaway
      The heat that is released by the first overheating battery cell, which initiates the thermal runaway, is modeled as a heat source on the wall boundary of this battery cell.
    - Configuring the Thermal Runaway Heat Release Model
      The Thermal Runaway Heat Release model is part of the user-defined battery setup.
    - Configuring the Thermal Runaway Battery Vent Model
      The Thermal Runaway Battery Vent model is configured such that it gets activated when the temperature within the user-defined battery cell reaches 403.15 K. The model uses mass flow rate and vent temperature values provided by the Vent Rate table to compute the heat released by the hot venting gas. Such tables can be obtained by performing ARC tests.
    - Defining the Battery Modules
      You create a user-defined battery module that consists of 6 battery cells connected in series.
    - Setting up the Venting Rate
      The mass flow rate and total temperature values for the venting inlets are calculated using the Thermal Runaway Battery Vent model. During venting, the battery cell looses mass, which affects its density.
    - Visualizing the Temperature Distribution
      You visualize the temperature distribution of air on two perpendicular section planes through the battery module.
    - Plotting Average Temperatures and Mass Flow Rates
      For each battery cell, you plot the volume-averaged temperatures of the stack cells and the surface-averaged mass flow rates of the venting inlets. For your convenience, these plots are pre-defined on the starting simulation file.
    - Running the Simulation
      You run the simulation for 150 s with a time-step of 0.5 s.
    - Analyzing the Results
      Once the simulation has finished running, you can analyze the results and effects of the Thermal Runaway Heat Release model and Thermal Runaway Battery Vent Model on the battery.
  - Simcenter STAR-CCM+ Batteries: Cell Thermal Analysis
    This tutorial introduces the battery modeling capabilities of Simcenter STAR-CCM+. It simulates the battery heat generation that occurs during the first 90 seconds of a discharge cycle.
  - Cylindrical Cells: Cell Thermal Analysis
    This tutorial demonstrates how to model a battery module in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ using cylindrical cells. It simulates three cylindrical cells in series in a staggered configuration with an external casing.
  - Li-Ion Battery Cell Model: Cell Electrochemistry Analysis
    In this tutorial, you model a Li-Ion battery cell at the microscale level. The simulation introduces the method for the prediction of the three-dimensional microstructure of porous battery electrodes.
- Automation
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ automation and macro features.
- Design Exploration
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various features for running design exploration studies in Design Manager.
- Coupling with CAE Codes
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for coupling with CAE codes:
- Analysis Methods
  The tutorials in this set illustrate various Simcenter STAR-CCM+ features for analysing and visualizing simulation data.
- Simcenter STAR-CCM+ In-cylinder
  The tutorials in this set illustrate features for simulating internal combustion engines in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ using the dedicated add-on Simcenter STAR-CCM+ In-cylinder.

Analyzing the Results

Once the simulation has finished running, you can analyze the results and effects of the Thermal Runaway Heat Release model and Thermal Runaway Battery Vent Model on the battery.

Average Temperature of Stack Cells: Up until approximately 9.0 s of physical time, the average temperature of the first battery cell increases slightly from its initial temperature of 371.15 K (98 °C) until it reaches the trigger temperature of 373.15 K (100 °C). Then, you can see the effect of the thermal runaway model as the temperature increases drastically. Once the stack cells reach a maximum temperature of approximately 734.0 K (460.85 °C), the stack cell temperature starts to slowly decrease. Through thermal propagation, the other battery cells successively heat up as well and undergo thermal runaway.

Average Mass Flow Rate of Venting Inlets: Thermal runaway begins in the battery at approximately 9.0 s, and as the internal temperature rises, the battery decomposes. As a result of the decomposition, gases are produced and released through the venting inlets. As evident through the mass flow rate of the venting inlets, venting begins at 12.5 s with a rapid increase in mass flow rate as the gases are released. The mass flow rate then rapidly decreases when venting has finished in the first inlet at approximately 25.0 s. This pattern is then repeated through the rest of the venting inlets, all venting complete at approximately 95.0 s.

Temperature Scene: The animation of the temperature scene demonstrates the chain-reaction effect of the thermal runaway heat release model. The temperature of the air region surrounding the first battery cell spikes in temperature, and this then progresses to the adjacent battery cell until all battery cells have been affected. The high temperature explosions from the venting inlets is the flammable and toxic gas resulting from the thermal runaway battery vent model.