Transactions of Materials Processing (소성∙가공)

The Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity and materials processing (한국소성∙가공학회)
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Experimental and Numerical Analyses of Flexible Forming Process for Micro Channel Arrays of Fuel Cell Bipolar Plates

연료전지 분리판의 마이크로 채널 제작을 위한 가변성형공정의 실험적 및 수치적 연구

  • Kim, H.S. (Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology) ;
  • Shim, J.M. (Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology)
  • Received : 2012.10.24
  • Accepted : 2012.11.19
  • Published : 2012.12.01
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Abstract

The fuel cell is a very promising power generation system combining the benefits of extremely low emissions, high efficiency, ease of maintenance and durability. In order to promote the commercialization of fuel cells, a flexible forming process, in which a hyper-elastic rubber is adopted as a medium to transmit forming pressure, is suggested as an efficient and cost effective manufacturing method for fuel cell bipolar plates. In this study, the ability of this flexible forming process to produce the micro channel arrays on metallic bipolar plates was first demonstrated experimentally. Then, a finite element (FE) model was built and validated through comparisons between simulated and experimental results. The effects of key process parameters on the forming performance such as applied load and punch velocity were investigated. As a result, appropriate process parameter values allowing high dimensional accuracy without failure were suggested.

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References

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