Surface roughness of AISI 1010 and AISI 304 of PEMFC bipolar plates with microscale hydroformed capillary channels

Abstract

As part of the efforts to produce robust, cost effective bipolar plates, it is necessary to evaluate the forming characteristics of potential materials under consideration. For this work the relationship between strain and deformation induced surface roughness was investigated for channels made from AISI 304 stainless steel and AISI 1010 mild steel that are formed using a hydroforming process. The experiment investigated the effect of channel geometry and hydroforming pressure on surface roughness of the sheet metals under consideration. It is important to state that some functional properties and manufacturing processes of metallic bipolar plates are dependent on the surface roughness of the materials. The results indicate that the final roughness of the formed part is dependent on the initial roughness of the as received sheet. Also, the results show that the surface roughness increases with increasing forming pressure and the resulting increase in strain of the sheet metal due to deformation.