Battery Charging & Discharging 3D Simulator — SOC, Thermal & BMS Interactive

Interactive 3D battery pack simulator with a bidirectional DC workbench (cell modules, copper busbars, BMS, DC contactor, charger/load and thermal management), operating-mode controls (discharge, constant-current charge, CC/CV charge, idle), adjustable requested current, state of charge, ambient temperature and capacity/resistance health, a cooling-availability toggle, time-stepped playback with real-time to 60× fast-forward, voltage/current/power/SOC/temperature/heat readouts, energy and thermal-response charts, model equations, six guided experiments (reverse energy flow, CV taper, aged pack, current limit, empty reserve, thermal trip), a built-in model-verification bench (checks.js), a timestamped event log with trial-report export, guided lessons and a knowledge-check quiz.

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About this tool — how it works & FAQOpen ▾Close ▴

About the Battery Charging & Discharging Simulator

This simulator models a representative 16-series lithium battery pack — 200 Ah at 100% health, 30 mΩ nominal internal resistance and 30 kJ/K thermal mass — as it discharges, charges at constant current, and tapers through a constant-current/constant-voltage (CC/CV) charge cycle. Watch how terminal voltage, internal heating and BMS protection limits interact as current direction and pack health change.

What the simulator shows

• A real-time 3D bidirectional DC workbench — cell modules, copper busbars, a battery management system (BMS), a DC contactor, a charger/DC load and a thermal management block — with a toggleable enclosure, auto-rotate, expand, hideable labels and selectable components with callouts. • An operating-mode selector: discharge (constant current), charge (constant current), charge (CC/CV) and idle/open load, plus sliders for requested current magnitude (0–150 A), state of charge override (5–95%), ambient temperature (−10 to 55°C) and capacity/resistance health (50–100%), and a cooling-system-available checkbox. • Playback controls: pause/resume, advance 0.1 s, advance 1 s, and a speed selector from 10× slow motion through real time to 60× faster, plus a reset-protection button and full laboratory reset. • Live readouts for terminal voltage, current (signed, + is discharge), terminal power, state of charge, pack temperature and internal heat loss, an operating-sequence narrative, and a status badge. • A Waveforms & power analysis tab with two charts (energy and thermal response), the underlying model equations, an analysis-scope note and snapshot measurements. • An Experiments tab with six guided scenarios (reverse the energy flow, observe CV taper, aged pack, current limit, empty reserve, thermal trip), a Model verification bench running independent deterministic checks against a fresh model instance, and a timestamped event log with trial-report export. • A Learn & assess tab with guided lessons, a knowledge-check quiz and a scope/references section.

How voltage, SOC and heat interact

Open-circuit voltage rises with state of charge (Voc = 48 + 8·SOCfraction V in this model). During discharge, internal resistance subtracts an I·R drop from that open-circuit voltage; during charge, it adds to it — which is why charging voltage always exceeds resting open-circuit voltage. SOC integrates current against amp-hour capacity, while delivered energy integrates terminal voltage times current, so the two track differently once losses matter.

In CC/CV mode, the charger holds constant current until terminal voltage approaches a 55.2 V ceiling, then tapers current to hold that ceiling as the rising open-circuit voltage leaves less resistive headroom. Resistive heating grows with the square of current (Ploss = I²R), so doubling current quadruples heat generation. The BMS restricts current to a 100 A limit regardless of what's requested, blocks discharge below a modeled reserve SOC (while still permitting charging), and latches an overtemperature trip that opens the DC contactor at 60°C pack temperature — it only resets once the pack cools below 55°C.

Scope and what this model excludes

This is a lumped equivalent-circuit and thermal teaching model, not a manufacturer cell datasheet or commissioning tool. Reducing the health slider halves capacity and doubles resistance, so an aged pack shows greater voltage sag and heating at the same current. Chemistry-specific voltage hysteresis, lithium diffusion dynamics, cell-to-cell imbalance, long-term degradation evolution and thermal runaway are not simulated — SOC is treated as a direct setup override whenever its slider changes, not something the model derives from history.

Frequently asked questions

Why does terminal voltage differ from open-circuit voltage?

Internal resistance creates an I·R drop. During discharge this subtracts from the open-circuit voltage (Voc), so terminal voltage is lower. During charge, the same resistance adds to Voc, so terminal (charging) voltage is higher than the resting open-circuit value.

What triggers the CC/CV taper?

In charge (CC/CV) mode, the charger holds constant current until terminal voltage approaches a fixed 55.2 V ceiling. As SOC rises, open-circuit voltage climbs and leaves less resistive headroom, so the charger reduces current to avoid exceeding the voltage ceiling — that reduction is the taper.

What does the BMS protect against?

The modeled battery management system limits requested current to 100 A, blocks discharge (but not charging) once state of charge reaches a low reserve limit, and latches an overtemperature trip that opens the DC contactor at 60°C pack temperature, requiring cooling below 55°C before it can be reset.

What does the model verification bench check?

The Experiments tab includes a Model verification bench that runs independent deterministic checks — covering SOC direction versus charge/discharge, the terminal-power-plus-heat energy balance, the 100 A current limit, the CC/CV voltage ceiling, the thermal trip, and reserve-SOC blocking — against a freshly constructed model, leaving your live experiment state untouched.

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