Use of mechanical tests to predict durability of polymer fuel cell membranes under humidity cycling
✍ Scribed by T.T. Aindow; J. O’Neill
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 407 KB
- Volume
- 196
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0378-7753
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✦ Synopsis
A mechanical fatigue life analysis of the type used for lifetime predictions in structural materials has been adapted to characterize PEM fuel cell membranes. It is shown that a stress vs. cycles-to-failure (S-N) curve analysis is capable of: (1) predicting the mechanical durability of PEM membranes under humidity cycling, and (2) assessing the fraction of membrane life remaining in degraded MEAs. Mechanical fatigue testing was performed in a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) at 60 • C and 90% relative humidity (RH) under different values of stress amplitude, and the results were used to plot the S-N curve. The stress amplitude for the S-N curve was then mapped to the equivalent change in RH as a methodology for characterizing membrane mechanical resistance to humidity cycling.