Thermal Stress Analysis of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Considering Interconnect Deformation

Deformation of the interconnect in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack affects the internal thermal stresses of the cell at high temperatures. In this study, the effect of the interconnect deformation on the cell temperature and thermal stress at different operating voltages was simulated based on the thermal-chemical-electrical-mechanical multiphysics coupling theory. The results show that when the operating voltage of the cell is above 0.85 V, the interconnect mainly generates a compressive strain. When the operating voltage is below 0.85 V, the interconnect produces tensile strain, which increases with decreasing voltage. Interconnect deformation significantly increases the thermal stress of the cells within the stack, but effectively improves the uniform distribution of thermal stress. The coupling effect of interconnect deformation on cell thermal stress within the stack varies at different operating voltages.