Dalian 2005

alian Summer Research Program 2005

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Lauren Seabrooks

Florida State University

Biochemistry

Ocoee, Florida

E-mail: les02d@fsu.edu

Topic: The Transverse Performance of Woven Composite End Plates in Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Mentor: Wu C.W.

Abstract

Hydrogen fuel cells are increasingly becoming the choice source of energy in many areas such as transportation, military, portable power sources, etc. because of their high efficiency and innocuous by-products. However there are certain obstacles in the way of large scale use of fuel cells including: cost, weight, volume and safety. Much research has been done on the bipolar plates and membrane electrode assembly in the hydrogen fuel cell. This paper, however, examines the reasons for and effects of fatigue on the end plates of the fuel cell stack. Fiber-reinforced composite samples are tested in two separate experiments and conclusions are drawn based on ANSYS models and observation. The results indicate that the damage incurred by the end plates is of static nature due to the delamination observed in the samples.