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

摘要

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