---

In recent years, rubber pad forming process have many advantages, such as high flexibility, good surface quality and lower manufacturing costs; RPF have been widely used in automotive, aerospace and military industries. In present research, numerical and experimental analysis of free bulging 304 stainless steel seamed tube, using a polyurethane elastic pad has been studied. Firstly, 3D simulation of seamed tube bulging using the finite element ABAQUS/Explicit 6.12 software by several frictional conditions has been performed. An incompressible hyperelastic pad has been modeled by Mooney-Rivlin constitutive equation and the elastic-plastic behavior as more as progressive ductile damage criterion FLD for steel tube were assumed. In the experimental activity, compression test of rubber was carried out according to ASTM D575-91 standard and compressive stress-strain curve and the Mooney-Rivlin constants were determined. Forming of meshed tubes by using elastic pad with different lubricating systems have been conducted up to onset of bursting in the seam weld and longitudinal, hoop and thickness strains were measured. Results showed that friction, especially between rubber and tube plays the main role in controlling wrinkles, increasing the bulge depth, reducing the forming load and friction dissipation energy of the process. Also observed that the intact parts without any wrinkles formed by using nylon lubricant between tube and rubber and drawing oil between tubes and die.

---

The present study investigates the manufacturing process of metallic bipolar plates made of SS316L with a thickness of 0.1 mm using rubber pad forming process. Two deformation types, convex or concave patterns, were used for producing channels in bipolar plates. The effect of concave and convex patterns on forming forces and slots filling will be created in this present study and then suitable condition for both patterns of deformation are achieved. For carrying out the experimental examination, two dies, convex and concave pattern within equal dimensions were designed and manufactured. In order to correct comparison of two die patterns, a rubber pad with hardness of Shore A 85 and thickness of 25 millimeters was used for forming of plates. A hydraulic press with capacity of 200 tons was used to make force on die. The concluded results signify that in an equal magnitude of force, die with convex pattern shows more depth of filling than concave die. By increasing magnitude forming force up to maximum limit, depth of filling in concave die will be constant and more increasing in magnitude of force will cause to destroy the rubber.

---

Metallic bipolar plate is one of the main parts of fuel cell. Several methods were used by researchers to manufacturing bipolar plate such as stamping, hydroforming and electromagnet forming. The effect of process parameters on dimensional accuracy of metallic bipolar plates in rubber pad forming process has been investigated in this study. ABAQUS/Standard finite element software is used to simulate the process. The accuracy of the results of simulation process is evaluated by using experimental results. To perform experimental procedures, rigid die with parallel flow field is used to form SS316 bipolar plate with 0.1 mm thick. For this purpose the effect of punch load, rubber hardness, rubber thickness and clearance between die and container on the dimensional accuracy of the formed parts is investigated. In this regard, rubber layer with hardness of 55, 70, 85 and 90 Shore A and thickness of 1.5mm up to 5.5mm were used. The result show difference between lateral and central channel depth, the amount of disparity will decrease by increasing in punch load, as a result the dimensional accuracy will increase. According to the result, increase in hardness and thickness of the rubber layer lead to improve the dimensional accuracy. Also considering clearance between die and container decrease the difference between lateral and central channel depth and eventually cause increasing in dimensional accuracy of formed part.

---

Rubber pad forming is a practical and low-cost method of producing metal bi-polar plates with complicated multi- array contours since it only needs a rigid die and a flexible rubber. In this study, 316 stainless steel sheets with the thickness of 0.1 mm were used. To form the plates, a polyurethane rubber was used with the hardness shore of A 85 with the thickness of 25 mm. In order to increase the depth of the channel flow and form filling plates with a high depth-to-width ratio, firstly, the effects of lubricants on shaping metal plates were ignored. Subsequently, by implementing lubricants, their effects on achieving a higher filling depth and a more uniform thickness distribution were investigated. The results showed that in rubber pad forming process, lubricants could be used to further enhance the depth of filling and have a uniform thickness distribution in the channels of generated plates. Moreover, among available lubricants, polypropylene nylon will be the best alternative for the production of bipolar plates due to its high tensile strength and low thickness.