Solid mechanics simulation of reconstructed gas diffusion layers for PEMFCs

Xiao L, Luo M, Zhang H, Zeis R, Sui PC (2019)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2019

Journal

Journal of The Electrochemical Society Electrochemical Society

Book Volume: 166

Pages Range: F377-F385

Journal Issue: 6

DOI: 10.1149/2.0421906jes

Abstract

This paper reports on the development of a novel approach to investigate the stress and strain distributions at the fiber's scale of PEMFC gas diffusion layers (GDLs). The present method includes stochastic reconstruction and finite element solution procedure. The microstructure of a GDL was randomly generated and meshed, upon which solid mechanics simulations were performed. Stress and strain distributions in three dimensions were obtained by considering dynamic contact, frictional motion and extruding deformation of the fibers. A sensitivity analysis on the present model showed that frictional coefficient between fibers has more influence on the model results than the mechanical properties of the fiber. Our simulation results show that under compression, the fiber's displacement in the through-plane direction is significantly more than the in-plane direction. Fibers intruding into the gas channel were also observed. For the case with 20% compression ratio, the computed stress is mostly below 100 kPa with a maximum in excess of 1,000 kPa. Simulation results, which include stress and displacement distributions under compression, are in qualitative agreement with actual observations in the literature. The present methodology can be extended to most porous electrodes that involve material deformation to allow accurate evaluation of their transport properties and performance.

Authors with CRIS profile

Roswitha Zeis

Involved external institutions

Wuhan University of Technology CN China (CN) Helmholtz Institut Ulm DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Xiao, L., Luo, M., Zhang, H., Zeis, R., & Sui, P.C. (2019). Solid mechanics simulation of reconstructed gas diffusion layers for PEMFCs. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 166(6), F377-F385. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0421906jes

MLA:

Xiao, Liusheng, et al. "Solid mechanics simulation of reconstructed gas diffusion layers for PEMFCs." Journal of The Electrochemical Society 166.6 (2019): F377-F385.

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