The Model of Stress Distribution in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane

An analytical model of mechanical stress in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) of a hydrogen/air fuel cell with porous Water Transfer Plates (WTP) is developed in this work. The model considers a mechanical stress in the membrane is a result of the cell load cycling under constant oxygen utilizati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Electrochemical Society 2013-01, Vol.160 (10), p.F1129-F1137
Main Authors: Atrazhev, Vadim V., Astakhova, Tatiana Yu, Dmitriev, Dmitry V., Erikhman, Nikolay S., Sultanov, Vadim I., Patterson, Timothy, Burlatsky, Sergei F.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:An analytical model of mechanical stress in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) of a hydrogen/air fuel cell with porous Water Transfer Plates (WTP) is developed in this work. The model considers a mechanical stress in the membrane is a result of the cell load cycling under constant oxygen utilization. The load cycling causes the cycling of the inlet gas flow rate, which results in the membrane hydration/dehydration close to the gas inlet. Hydration/dehydration of the membrane leads to membrane swelling/shrinking, which causes mechanical stress in the constrained membrane. Mechanical stress results in through-plane crack formation. Thereby, the mechanical stress in the membrane causes mechanical failure of the membrane, limiting fuel cell lifetime. The model predicts the stress in the membrane as a function of the cell geometry, membrane material properties and operation conditions. The model was applied for stress calculation in GORE-SELECT.
ISSN:0013-4651
1945-7111
DOI:10.1149/2.079310jes