Design of Stiffened Ribs for Improving Forming Defects of Metal Bipolar Plate for PEMFC

The bipolar plate, a key component of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), serves to uniformly supply reaction gas to the active area. These bipolar plates are made from graphite or metal materials. Among these, metal bipolar plates are preferred for use in fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) due to their low cost and lightweight properties. Metal bipolar plates used in FCEVs are manufactured through a stamping forming process, during which various forming defects occur. These defects include non-uniformity of channel height, wrinkling, and oil canning. In this study, a stiffened rib was applied to a metal bipolar plate to reduce these defects, and the influence of the angle of the stiffened rib and the distance between the stiffened rib and the channel was analyzed. Simulations indicate that all three forming defects improve when the stiffened rib’s angle is 60°, regardless of whether the stiffened rib is near or far from the active area.