Arrangement of Belleville Springs on Endplates Combined with Optimal Cross-Sectional Shape in PEMFC Stack Using Equivalent Beam Modeling and FEA

Zhiming Zhang, Hui Ren, Song Hu, Xinfeng Zhang, Tong Zhang (), Jiaming Zhou (), Shangfeng Jiang, Tao Yu and Bo Deng
Additional contact information
Zhiming Zhang: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Hui Ren: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Song Hu: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Xinfeng Zhang: School of Information and Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University City College, Hangzhou 310015, China
Tong Zhang: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Jiaming Zhou: School of Intelligent Manufacturing, Weifang University of Science and Technology, Weifang 262700, China
Shangfeng Jiang: Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou 450016, China
Tao Yu: College of Automotive Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Bo Deng: China Automotive Engineering Research Institute Co., Ltd., Chongqing 401122, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-13

Abstract: A set of Belleville springs integrated into an endplate plays a key role in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack, which makes the applied assembly force smoother, resulting from the absorbed vibration and thermal expansion. The appropriate arrangement of Belleville springs is important in PEMFC stack design. The aim of this study is to establish an equivalent beam model to optimize the numbers and positions of Belleville springs to minimize endplate deformation. Based on this, a finite element analysis (FEA) model of the PEMFC stack is proposed to further optimize the cross-sectional shape of the endplate. For the endplate with two, three and four groups of Belleville springs, its optimal positions correspond to 0.17 l in , 0.27 l in and 0.5 l in (l in is the equal distance between steel belts). In addition, the low thickness should be 2/3 of the high thickness of the curved endplate for a uniform contact pressure distribution as well as the high-volume-specific power. However, the curvature radius of the endplate arc is negative to the uniformity of the contact pressure distribution, and particularly the internal cells of the PEMFC stack. This study provides a design direction for endplates combined with Belleville springs in large fuel cell stacks clamped with steel belts.

Keywords: PEM fuel cell; uniform contact pressure distribution; endplate; Belleville springs; equivalent beam model; FEA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/15928/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/23/15928/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:15928-:d:988155

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().