The Experimental and Simulation Investigation of Process and Geometrical Parameters for Hydroforming of Pin-type Metallic Bipolar plates

In recent years the use of metallic bipolar plates for fuel cells is considered. Several studies have been conducted on the various methods of forming these plates. Most of this research has been done on the serpentine flow fields. While in some cases that the pressure drop is important factor, the pin-type flow fields shows good performance. In this research, hydroforming of metallic bipolar plates with circular pin-type pattern from stainless steel 304 with 0.11mm thickness is investigated experimentally and numerically. For this purpose, the effect of geometrical parameters such as the die wall angle, the die chamfer dimension, the depth-to-width ratio of the die, and forming pressure on the profiles, filling percent, thickness distribution and thinning percent of the formed parts are investigated. In this regard, two dies with wall angle of 0 and 15 degree were prepared. Then experimental tests were done at different pressures. After performing the required tests, the results show that the die wall angle leads to a more uniform thickness distribution and higher precision of the parts profile. Also the suitable range of die geometrical parameters was determined.