Fuel cells and many of their individual components - such as bipolar plates and stacks - are still not manufactured industrially in large series. They are produced under manufactory conditions. This makes fuel cells unnecessarily expensive and prevents their widespread use in vehicles or buildings, for example. For the energy turnaround, therefore, low-cost manufacturing processes are needed that at the same time enable high volumes to be produced in a short time. Researchers at Fraunhofer IWU have taken up this challenge and are now presenting the first successes of their work: Bipolar plates are no longer just stamped or deep-drawn, but are also created using hydroforming or rolling processes. In hydroforming, also known as high-pressure sheet forming (HBU), thin metal foils with a thickness of 0.05 mm to 0.1 mm are pressed with water into the shape of a bipolar plate. A pressure of 200 megapascals (MPa) is applied. Compared with conventional processes, bipolar plates can be formed more precisely in this way and bounce less.
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