<p>The forming quality of flow channels on metallic bipolar plates significantly impacts the performance of hydrogen fuel cells. The roll forming process offers a promising, efficient method for producing these plates due to its continuous nature. Understanding the uniformity and dimensional accuracy of roll-formed bipolar plate channels is essential for enhancing forming quality and facilitating mass production. This study focuses on 0.1-mm-thick 316L roll-formed microchannels, establishing evaluation criteria based on channel depth uniformity, tilt angle, wall thickness, residual stress, and dimensional accuracy. We analyze how roll forming mold parameters like fillet radius and side gap influence channel characteristics. Results indicate that increasing the fillet radius or side gap enhances uniformity in depth, tilt angle, thickness, and residual stress but decreases dimensional accuracy. To resolve the conflict between channel uniformity and dimensional accuracy, a cooperative game model based on a combined weighting method was proposed, optimizing the fillet radius and side gap to achieve the best coupling solution. The optimal fillet radius and side gap were determined to be <InlineEquation ID="IEq1"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">$r=0.25$</EquationSource> <EquationSource Format="MATHML"><math> <mrow> <mi>r</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0.25</mn> </mrow> </math></EquationSource> </InlineEquation> mm and <InlineEquation ID="IEq2"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">$e=0.27$</EquationSource> <EquationSource Format="MATHML"><math> <mrow> <mi>e</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0.27</mn> </mrow> </math></EquationSource> </InlineEquation> mm, respectively, resulting in a comprehensive channel score of <InlineEquation ID="IEq3"> <EquationSource Format="TEX">${F}_{h}=0.669$</EquationSource> <EquationSource Format="MATHML"><math> <mrow> <msub> <mi>F</mi> <mi>h</mi> </msub> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0.669</mn> </mrow> </math></EquationSource> </InlineEquation>. Experimental validation confirmed that the formed channels exhibit good uniformity and high dimensional accuracy.</p>

Study on the Coupling Characteristics of Uniformity and Dimensional Accuracy in Roll Forming of Microchannels for 316L Bipolar Plates

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发表日期：

2025年2月17日

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Zhewen Liu,
Fuqiang Zhao,
Dong Wang,
Qingxue Huang,
Shuaifeng Chen

摘要

The forming quality of flow channels on metallic bipolar plates significantly impacts the performance of hydrogen fuel cells. The roll forming process offers a promising, efficient method for producing these plates due to its continuous nature. Understanding the uniformity and dimensional accuracy of roll-formed bipolar plate channels is essential for enhancing forming quality and facilitating mass production. This study focuses on 0.1-mm-thick 316L roll-formed microchannels, establishing evaluation criteria based on channel depth uniformity, tilt angle, wall thickness, residual stress, and dimensional accuracy. We analyze how roll forming mold parameters like fillet radius and side gap influence channel characteristics. Results indicate that increasing the fillet radius or side gap enhances uniformity in depth, tilt angle, thickness, and residual stress but decreases dimensional accuracy. To resolve the conflict between channel uniformity and dimensional accuracy, a cooperative game model based on a combined weighting method was proposed, optimizing the fillet radius and side gap to achieve the best coupling solution. The optimal fillet radius and side gap were determined to be $r=0.25$ $r = 0.25$ mm and $e=0.27$ $e = 0.27$ mm, respectively, resulting in a comprehensive channel score of ${F}_{h}=0.669$ $F_{h} = 0.669$ . Experimental validation confirmed that the formed channels exhibit good uniformity and high dimensional accuracy.