Open Access

ABSTRACT

Comparison of Fabrication Cost of Composite Bipolar Plates Made by Compression Molding and by Machining

by H.S. Lee¹, W.S. Chu¹, Y.C. Kang¹, H.J. Kang¹, S.H. Ahn²

1 School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
2 School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, & Institute of Advanced Machinery and Design, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences 2007, 4(3), 195-200. https://doi.org/10.3970/icces.2007.004.195

Abstract

The fuel cell is one of promising environment-friendly energy sources for the next generation. The bipolar plate is a major component of the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack, and it takes a large portion of stack volume, weight and cost. In this study, as alternative materials for bipolar plate of PEM fuel cells, graphite composites were fabricated by compression molding and by machining. Graphite particles mixed with epoxy resin were used as the main substance to provide electric conductivity. Flow channels were fabricated by compression molding applying design of experiments (DOE) in order to evaluate moldability. The cost for compression molding of graphite-composite bipolar plate was compared with machining cost to make the same bipolar plate.

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