Vibration tests on a PEM fuel cell stack usable in transportation application

A fuel cell stack for use in transportation or in applications which involves the positioning of such systems in a location of high vibration and shock, is subjected to accelerated stress screening to ascertain the reliability of the stack, mechanical integrity and also to assess the mounting requirements. Such studies have not been well documented in open literature. In this paper, we have done the vibration test analysis on a 500 W Proton Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack developed at our centre by simulating some of the vibration, shock and resonance in the stack and the likelihood of the stack to undergo in any application and evaluated the robustness of the stack. An experimental setup was designed for this purpose consisting of subjecting the PEM fuel cell stack to random and swept-sine excitations on a vibrating platform in three axes and measuring the mechanical response using accelerometers fixed at various locations in the stack. The fuel cell performance (pre-vibration test and post-vibration test) as obtained from polarization studies and the power–amperage curves does not show any significant damage effects, and a post-testing stack inspection showed a minor torque release. Further tests are recommended to study the dynamic life test. This study opens up further investigation which the authors propose to carry out in due course.