Transactions of Materials Processing (소성∙가공)

The Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity and materials processing (한국소성∙가공학회)
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Forming of Metallic Bipolar Plates by Dynamic Loading

Dynamic Load를 이용한 박막 금속 분리판 성형기술

  • 구자윤 (부산대학교 대학원 정밀가공시스템) ;
  • 강충길 (부산대학교 기계공학부, 정밀정형 및 금형가공 연구센터)
  • Received : 2011.08.04
  • Accepted : 2011.12.21
  • Published : 2012.02.01
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Abstract

The weight of the bipolar plate is one of the crucial aspects of improving power density in PEMFC stacks. Aluminum alloys have good mechanical properties such as density, electrical resistivity, and thermal conductivity. Furthermore, using aluminum in a bipolar plate instead of graphite reduces the bipolar plate cost and makes machining easier. Therefore in this study, an aluminum alloy was selected as the appropriate material for a bipolar plate. Results from feasibility experiments with the aim of developing fuel cells consisting of Al bipolar plates with multiple channels are presented. Dynamic loading was applied and the formability of micro channels was estimated as a function of punch pressure and die radius. Sheets of Al5052 with a thickness of 0.3mm were used. For a die radius of 0.1mm the formability was optimized with a sine wave dynamic load of 90kN at maximum pressure and 5 cycles of a sine wave punch travel. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed manufacturing technique for producing bipolar plates.

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References

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