Based on a coupled finite element method (FEM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, the structural deformation and performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) under different membrane water contents are studied. The water absorption behavior of the membrane is investigated experimentally to obtain its expansion coefficient with water content, and the Young’s modulus of the membrane and catalyst (CL) are obtained through a tensile experiment. The simulation results show that the deformation of the membrane increases with water content, and membrane swelling under the channel is larger than that under the rib, forming a surface bump under the channel. The structural changes caused by the membrane water content have little effect on the performance of PEMFC in the low-current density range; while its influence is significant in the medium- and high-current density range. A medium membrane water content value of 12 achieves the best fuel cell performance due to the balance of membrane resistance and mass transport.

中文翻译：

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考虑膜含水量影响的 PEMFC 结构变形和性能的 FEM 和 CFD 耦合建模

基于耦合有限元法（FEM）和计算流体动力学（CFD）模型，研究了质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）在不同膜含水量下的结构变形和性能。通过实验研究了膜的吸水行为，得到了其膨胀系数随含水量的变化，通过拉伸实验得到了膜和催化剂的杨氏模量（CL）。模拟结果表明，膜的变形随含水量的增加而增加，通道下的膜膨胀大于肋下的膨胀，在通道下形成表面凸起。膜含水量引起的结构变化对PEMFC在低电流密度范围内的性能影响不大；而它的影响在中高电流密度范围内显着。由于膜电阻和传质的平衡，中等膜含水量值为 12 可获得最佳燃料电池性能。