Fuel Cell Gasket With Segmented Sealing Parts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fuel cell gaskets face challenges in achieving high sealing performance while minimizing internal distortion and ensuring durability, as they are prone to reduced durability from excessive compression and compromised sealing due to limited deformation.
Innovation Solution
A gasket design with distinct first and second sealing parts, where the compressive deformation ratio varies between sections, allowing for increased deformation in specific areas to enhance sealing while reducing overall distortion and improving durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the height of the gasket is increased to ensure sufficient deformation by compression, then sealing performance is improved, but internal distortion occurs during compression, reducing durability
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is divided into multiple sealing parts (first sealing part and second sealing part) with different compressive deformation ratios. Each sealing part has a specific height range designed to achieve appropriate deformation without excessive compression, thereby maintaining sealing performance while reducing internal distortion and improving durability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the gasket are assigned different height values and compressive deformation ratios according to their specific sealing requirements. The first sealing part has a different height range than the second sealing part, allowing each region to be optimized for its local sealing needs while avoiding uniform over-compression that would cause distortion.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If the gasket is compressed to a small amount, then internal distortion is reduced, but sealing performance is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The gasket is segmented into multiple sealing parts, each with specifically designed height ranges. This segmentation allows the gasket to achieve sufficient compression for sealing in critical areas while limiting overall compression to prevent distortion, thereby simultaneously improving sealing performance and durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The height parameters of different sealing parts are optimized to achieve appropriate compressive deformation ratios. By carefully controlling the height of each sealing part within specific ranges, the gasket achieves the right balance between deformation for sealing and limitation of distortion for durability.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a sub-lip is designed to deform less than the main lip, then structural stability is maintained, but sealing performance by the sub-lip is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Each sealing part is designed with local quality optimization, where the height and compressive deformation ratio are specifically tailored to the sealing requirements of that region. This ensures that each sealing part achieves adequate deformation for sealing without compromising structural stability, as the overall structure benefits from the distributed deformation design.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The gasket achieves improved sealing performance on both fuel cell interfaces with reduced distortion and increased durability by strategically varying compressive deformation ratios, maintaining effective sealing without collapsing lip portions.
Implementation Method 1
The gasket is to form a seal line for preventing leakage of a fluid such as reactive gas or a cooling medium supplied to the inside of the fuel cell stack... The gasket is generally made of a resin material and abuts on the fuel cell to be compressed in a height direction, thereby forming the seal line
Data Source
AI summary
A gasket comprising: a first sealing part surrounding the sealed area; and a second sealing part surrounding the sealed area and being provided external to an area surrounded by the first sealing part. When a compressive deformation ratio is defined as a ratio of a deformation amount in a height direction to pressure applied to the gasket in the height direction, in the first sealing part, the compressive deformation ratio at a section to be arranged on a first fuel cell side is greater than the compressive deformation ratio at a section to be arranged on a second fuel cell side, and in the second sealing part, the compressive deformation ratio at a section to be arranged on the second fuel cell side is greater than the compressive deformation ratio at a section to be arranged on the first fuel cell side.