Abstract
Proton Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell is a promising energy source because of its high efficiency and zero emission. One of the most important unresolved problems of PEM fuel cells today is the durability issue of its components. For example, the polymeric gasket material of PEM fuel cell must be durable enough to hold the liquid and gas inside the fuel cell channel, as its sealing force decreases gradually with time and also changes with temperature. Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) is commonly used as gasket or seal material in many industrial applications including PEM fuel cells. This paper discusses the compression stress relaxation of LSR under temperature cycling, which is to simulate the actual fuel cell operation. It is found that (a) in addition to stress relaxation, thermal expansion or contraction of the material contributes the most in the observed stress variation during temperature change, and (b) the stiffness of LSR appears to change according to temperature history, and (c) the Maxwell stress relaxation model can be used to predict the sealing force only after a correction of the change of material stiffness is implemented into the model.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Liu D et al (2006) Relaxation of proton conductivity and stress in proton exchange membranes under strain. J Eng Mater Technol Trans ASME 128(4):503–508
Bernstein R, Gillen KT (2009) Predicting the lifetime of fluorosilicone o-rings. Polym Degrad Stab 94(12):2107–2113
Ronan S et al (2007) Long-term stress relaxation prediction for elastomers using the time-temperature, superposition method. Mater Des 28(5):1513–1523
Derham CJ (1997) Transient effects influencing sealing force in elasomeric O ring seals. Plast Rubber Compos Proc Appl 26(3):130–136
Gordon AP, Drilling B, Williams K, Hebert S, Kammerer CC, Baldwin F (2011) Optimization of re-torque and relaxation parameters of the GUCP. In: ASME 2011 PVP conference, Baltimore
Gordon AP, Maricela De Santiago JW (2011) Analytical modeling of the mechanics of re-torque. In: ASME 2011 pressure vessel and piping conference (PVP 2011), Baltimore
Singh HK (2009) Lifetime prediction and durability of elastomeric seals for fuel cell application. The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, pp 21-22
Tong Cui CWL, Chien CH, Chao YJ, Van Zee JW (2011) Service life estimation of liquid silicone rubber seals in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell environment. J Power Sources 196(3):1216–1221
Humfeld GR, Dillard DA (1998) Residual stress development in adhesive joints subjected to thermal cycling. J Adhes 65(1–4):277–306
Dillard JG et al (1998) The durability of adhesively-bonded titanium: performance of plasma-sprayed polymeric coating pretreatments. J Adhes 65(1–4):217–238
Acknowledgements
This study is sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DE-FC36-06G086041 and DE-FG36-08GO88116) and the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Fuel Cells at the University of South Carolina. The author Y.J. Chao would also like to thank the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51275338).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Cui, T., Chao, Y.J., Van Zee, J.W., Chien, CH. (2015). Effect of Temperature on Mechanical Property Degradation of Polymeric Materials. In: Qi, H., et al. Challenges in Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials, Volume 2. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06980-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06980-7_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-06979-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-06980-7
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)