Thermal Stress Analysis of a Fuel Cell Stack using an Orthotropic Material Model

복합재료 연료전지 스택의 열응력 해석

Mechanical behavior of a fuel stack was studied using an orthotropic material model. The fuel stack is essentially composed of a bipolar plate (BP), a gasket, an end plate, a membrane electrolyte assembly (MEA), and a gas diffusion layer (GDL). Each component is fastened with a suitable pressure. It is important to maintain a suitable contact pressure distribution of BP, because it influences the power efficiency of the fuel cell stack. When it is exposed to high temperature, its behavior must be stable. Hence, we performed stress analysis at high temperature as well as at room temperature. At high temperature, the contact pressure distribution becomes poor. Many patents have shown that using an elastomer can overcome this phenomena. Its effect was also studied. By using an elastomer, we found a good contact pressure distribution at high temperature as well as at room temperature.