NON-CONTACT DIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENTS OF BIPOLAR FUEL CELL PLATES

Published

November 15, 2011

Author(s)

Balasubramanian Muralikrishnan, Wei Ren, Dennis S. Everett, Eric S. Stanfield, Theodore D. Doiron

Abstract

Non-contact dimensional measurement of fuel cell plates is critical to the eventual rapid manufacture by supporting in-process measurement and control. This need has been identified by the Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Program, and by numerous manufacturers’ of fuel cell plates. To facilitate this effort, we have explored the use of non-contact systems that can be adapted towards in-process and 100% part measurement. Towards this end, we have developed a dedicated system for performing non-contact dimensional measurements of fuel cell plates using laser spot triangulation probes. Our system utilizes two probes tilted in opposing directions so that each probe can detect one side wall of the channel and some portion of the channel bottom. We have developed procedures to calibrate the system parameters (tilt angles of the probe, offsets between probes etc) so that the data from the two probes can be tied to a single coordinate system. We briefly describe the system in this paper and present measurement results.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the ASPE 2011 Annual Meeting

Conference Dates

September 11-November 18, 2011

Conference Location

Denver, CO

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Dimensional metrology, Fuel cell, Laser scanner

Citation

Muralikrishnan, B. , Ren, W. , Everett, D. , Stanfield, E. and Doiron, T. (2011), NON-CONTACT DIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENTS OF BIPOLAR FUEL CELL PLATES, Proceedings of the ASPE 2011 Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=909299 (Accessed October 13, 2025)