Investigation of lubricant effect on directional thickness distribution of U-shaped micro channels of bipolar plates

Abstract

The present study is the stamping of the metallic bipolar plates (MBPPs) with a thickness of 0.1 mm made of SS3316 with a parallel serpentine flow field. Experimental tests together with the finite element (FE) model are utilized to define the directional thickness distribution. According to the results, considering the friction factor of 0.1 during the FE analysis is capable of providing accurate results in terms of thickness prediction under lubricated conditions. The largest thinning percentages in the modified conditions are found to be 27.02%, 30.40%, and 26.00% in the longitudinal, diagonal, and transverse directions, respectively, indicating that the diagonal direction is the most critical one.