Hydroforming rules and quality control parameters analysis for metal bipolar plate

Bipolar plate is a significant component in proton exchange membrane fuel cell, which plays an important role in supporting, heat conducting, electricity conducting and transferring gas. Hydroforming is an advanced method for manufacturing metal bipolar plates. Exploring hydroforming mechanism and controlling forming quality are very important to ensure the performance of bipolar plate. In this paper, a model of a single serpentine flow filed bipolar plate in hydroforming process was established to study the hydmforming quality control mechanism. The results show that the formability and filling rate of the bipolar plates are improved by increasing the pressure in the hydroforming process. However, the partial fracture of the bipolar plates appears with pressure increases. The forming effect of die's outer radius is better than that of inner radius, and the forming effect of bipolar plate can be improved by increasing the outer radius. The draft angle has a little effect on the formability. Increasing the width and depth will improve the filling rate, but fracture may occurs with excessive depth. With the thickness of the sheet increases, its form quality is more difficult. Those results can provide references for the bipolar plate process and parameter optimization.

Automated summary

This study establishes a hydroforming model to investigate the quality control mechanism of bipolar plate hydroforming. The results demonstrate that increasing the pressure in the hydroforming process improves the formability and filling rate of bipolar plates, but can also lead to partial fractures. Moreover, the forming effect of the die's outer radius is better than that of the inner radius, while the draft angle has minimal impact on formability.