Modeling of laser cladding with application to fuel cell manufacturing.

Details

• Creators:
  Fa, Zhiqiang
• Corporate Creators:
  Missouri University of Science and Technology. Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Fuel cells
  • Plates (Engineering)
  • Metal coatings
  • Lasers
  • Cladding
  • Manufacturing
  • Mathematical models
• Publication/ Report Number:
  NUTC R203 ; Project #00016751
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Missouri
• Corporate Publisher:
  Missouri University of Science and Technology. Center for Transportation Infrastructure and Safety
• Abstract:
  Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells have many advantages such as compactness, ; lightweight, high power density, low temperature operation and near zero emissions. Although ; many research organizations have intensified their efforts towards commercialization of fuel ; cells, several technical problems are yet to be overcome. One of the important issues is the ; availability of low cost bipolar plates. Thus far carbon-based bipolar plates have been the main ; focus of the development activities. These materials will fulfill all requirements in the near future. ; Nevertheless, further cost reduction and an increase of power density is beneficial for fuel cell ; technology 1. Bipolar plates based on coated metals offer a high potential to reduce costs and ; enhance power density. Aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, and nickel are considered possible ; alternative materials for the bipolar plate in PEM fuel cells. These metals need to be coated ; properly because bipolar plates are exposed to an operating environment with a pH of 2–3 at ; high temperatures. Borup and Vanderborgh 2 suggest that coatings for bipolar plates should ; be conductive and adhere to the base material properly to protect the substrate from the ; operating environment. Laser cladding is considered an alternative coating process for solid or ; modular metallic bipolar plates. In laser cladding, the coating material is metallurgically bonded ; with the substrate, which is very important for the functioning of bipolar plates. The advantages ; of laser cladding include chemical cleanliness, localized heating, low dilution of the cladding ; material by the substrate and rapid cooling rates. To understand the relationships between the ; fuel cell component performance and manufacturing process parameters and variability, a ; numerical model has been developed to simulate the physical phenomena associated with laser ; cladding of bipolar plates. This report summarizes the numerical model developed.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DTRT06-G-0014
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/27913/dot_27913_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.19 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:2941facff15dd92a681a6a2f2bc6a9d9c7f7927909de56214f438b72a3bcb87e