A modeling study on the thermomechanical behavior of glass-ceramic and self-healing glass seals at elevated temperatures

Hermetic gas seals are critical components of planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs). This article focuses on the comparative evaluation of a glass-ceramic seal developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and a self-healing glass seal developed by the University of Cincinnati. The stress and strain levels in the Positive electrode–Electrolyte–Negative electrode (PEN) seal in a single-cell stack are evaluated using a multi-physics simulation package developed at PNNL. Simulations were carried out with and without consideration of a clamping force and a stack body force, respectively. The results indicate that the overall stress and strain levels are dominated by the thermal expansion mismatches between the different cell components. Further, compared with the glass-ceramic, the self-healing glass results in a much lower steady state stress value due to its much lower stiffness at the operating temperature of the SOFC. It also exhibits much shorter relaxation times due to a high creep rate. It is also noted that the self-healing glass seal will experience continuing creep deformation at the operating temperature of a SOFC therefore resulting in possible overflow of the sealant material. Therefore, a stopper material may be required to maintain its geometric stability during operation.