Simulation of Fracture Formation in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Anode Using Peridynamic Modeling Method

Porous cermet materials are widely applied in high-temperature fuel cell electrodes. Fracture formation in the brittle ceramic phase and at the metal–ceramic interface results in mechanical damages and irreversible performance degradation to the electrode performance. In this work, an ordinary state-based peridynamic (OSB-PD) approach is proposed to simulate the formation of fractures in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) anodes based on real microstructures reconstructed using focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) dual-beam technique. The effects of external mechanical loads on anode microstructure strength are investigated quantitatively. The key factors determining anode microstructure strength are analyzed based on the simulation results upon the comparison among different anode microstructures. The simulation method provides an easy-to-use approach for evaluating porous cermet microstructure strength during high-temperature operation, which can also be extended to other composite materials.