Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : September 08, 2024 - September 11, 2024
The fabrication of the electrode in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) typically involves a high-temperature sintering process. It is well-known that the microstructures resulting from the sintering process are correlated with the power generation performance and durability of SOFCs. Moreover, the microstructures prior to sintering may also have a considerable influence on the sintered microstructures and their related properties. Nevertheless, the precise impact of the heterogeneity of the initial ceramic powder on the fundamental properties of the sintered materials is not currently understood. In this study, initial LSC (lanthanum strontium cobaltite) powder, which is a promising cathode material, was prepared with and without initial grinding by a planetary ball mill. Subsequently, the initial microstructures were reconstructed using the focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) technique. To investigate the impact of initial powder heterogeneity on the microstructural and mechanical properties, the mesoscale simulation techniques, including Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations, voxel-based finite element analysis, and peridynamic approach, were performed on the obtained microstructural images. The results of our numerical analysis demonstrate that the variation in microcracking stress is significantly affected by the heterogeneity of the initial powder. Consequently, the use of a heterogeneous initial powder results in a higher probability of microcracking.
