Formability of aluminium embossing sheets with controlled stamping machine for PEM fuel cell

Abstract

The weight of bipolar plates is one of the important considerations in the process of improving the power density in proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks. An aluminium alloy not only has good mechanical properties such as low density, low electrical resistivity and high thermal conductivity, but also has high corrosion resistance. Furthermore, when aluminium is used as a material for bipolar plates, the cost and weight of the bipolar plate can be reduced, and machining becomes easier. Therefore, in this study, an aluminium alloy is selected as the ideal material for a bipolar plate. In this paper, the results of feasibility experiments conducted with the aim of developing fuel cells in which Al bipolar plates with multiple channels are presented. This investigation involves determination of the effect of machine velocity and die temperatures on the formation of microchannels using thin metal sheets of Al5052. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed manufacturing technique for producing bipolar plates.

Keywords:

• Bipolar plate
• Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell
• Microstamp
• Thin plate
• Al5052

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (grant no. 2010‐0000854)