Thin metallic wave-like channel bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Deformation behavior, formability analysis and process design

Abstract Metallic bipolar plates are one of the main components of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, and the selection of channel layout is a key point for the design of metal bipolar plate which affects both the performance and the manufacturability of bipolar plates directly. Among various design proposals, the wave-like channel is found as a promising layout to enhance the performance of the fuel cell stack. However, the forming rules of this channel layout are unclear and still to be investigated. In this paper, the influences of the various factors of die sets on the forming behavior of the wave-like channel are explored through experiments. The rules derived from experiments are verified by simulation and summarized as the empirical rule of thickness reduction and maximum pressing depth. For 316 stainless steel sheet, fracture occurs when the thickness reduction reaches around 30%. Before fracture, the relationship between the thickness reduction and the pressing depth can be described as an empirical exponential formula. Finally, guidance is also provided for the die set design of wave-like channels.