JP5066351B2 - Device comprising a ceramic thin plate - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a device including a fired thin plate including at least a ceramic sheet and a support member that supports the thin plate.

Conventionally, a fired thin plate including a ceramic sheet has been used in various devices such as sensors, actuators, and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). For example, when the device is an SOFC, the thin plate body is made of ceramic solid electrolyte zirconia, a fuel electrode layer formed on one surface of the solid electrolyte zirconia, and an air electrode layer formed on the other surface of the solid electrolyte zirconia. And a fired body comprising: Further, the fuel flow path is formed in a portion facing the fuel electrode layer, and the air flow path is formed in a portion facing the air electrode layer. This type of thin plate member is fixed to a support member at least at two portions (in many cases, the entire circumference) to constitute a device. (For example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-342584 A

  In order to reduce the size of such a device, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the thin plate itself and the case of the device that accommodates the thin plate (for example, the thickness of the support member). . On the other hand, when the temperature of the device (thin plate body and / or support member) changes abruptly, a difference in expansion occurs between the thin plate body and the support member. However, since the thin plate body is constrained (fixed) to the support member in at least two portions, a large stress is applied to the thin plate body due to a difference in expansion amount between the thin plate body and the support member. For this reason, especially the central part vicinity of a thin plate body deform | transforms, and in a miniaturized device, a thin plate body may contact | abut to a support member. As a result, various problems such as a decrease in device reliability occur.

  More specifically, for example, if the device is a miniaturized SOFC, the distance (height) of the fuel flow path and the distance (height) of the air flow path in the direction orthogonal to the thin plate member are very high. Get smaller. On the other hand, when the fuel cell is about to start power generation or to end power generation, the temperature of the thin plate as a single cell and the temperature of the support member change rapidly. As a result, a difference in expansion / contraction amount (expansion amount) occurs between the thin plate member and the support member, and a large stress is applied to the thin plate member. Therefore, particularly in the vicinity of the central portion of the thin plate member is deformed and the fuel flow path and / or The problem of closing the air flow path occurs. Further, even when the thin plate member is deformed to such an extent that the fuel flow channel or the air flow channel is not closed, the pressure loss when the fluid flows through these flow channels increases due to the deformation of the thin plate member. Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a device that is miniaturized and that can stably exhibit a desired performance against a temperature change of the device.

  In order to achieve the above object, a device according to the present invention is a device comprising a fired thin plate including at least a ceramic sheet, and a support member that supports the thin plate. From the viewpoint of downsizing, the thickness of such a thin plate member is preferably, for example, 5 μm or more and 100 μm or less and is uniform over the entire thin plate member.

  Further, in this device, the thin plate member is fixed to the support member at at least two portions of the thin plate member, and includes a plurality of convex portions protruding from one plane of the thin plate member and from the same plane. A plurality of depressed concave portions are provided. In this case, the convex part and the concave part seen from the one surface side of the thin plate body are the concave part and the convex part, respectively, when seen from the other surface side of the thin plate body.

  As described above, the thin plate member is fixed to the support member at at least two portions of the thin plate member. In this case, if the thin plate body is a polygon in plan view, at least two places of the thin plate body fixed to the support member are two sides constituting the polygon (two opposite sides and two adjacent sides). May be at least two regions along each of the regions, and may be a region including two or more regions (the entire circumference of the outer peripheral portion) along each of all sides of the polygon. The thin plate member may be circular (perfect circle, ellipse, ellipse, etc.) in plan view. In that case, at least two places of the thin plate member fixed to the support member may be regions including two different ridges drawn with respect to the circle, or may be all regions of the outer peripheral portion.

  On the other hand, the thin plate member and the support member tend to expand and contract due to temperature changes. At this time, a difference in expansion and contraction occurs between the thin plate member and the support member. However, since the thin plate body is fixed to the support member in at least two portions, if the thin plate body is flat like a conventional thin plate body (that is, the thin plate body includes the convex portion and the concave portion). Otherwise, a large stress (tensile stress or compressive stress) is generated in the direction along the plane of the thin plate member, and the thin plate member or the joint (the fixed portion between the thin plate member and the support member) is damaged, or the thin plate member In particular, the vicinity of the center of the plate is deformed in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the thin plate member. On the other hand, since the thin plate member in the device of the present invention includes a plurality of convex portions protruding from the plane of the thin plate body and a plurality of concave portions recessed from the same plane, the convex portions and the concave portions are provided. It deform | transforms so that the expansion amount difference between the thin plate body of the direction along the plane of the thin plate body by the said temperature change and a supporting member may be absorbed. In other words, the stress generated inside the thin plate member due to the difference in the amount of expansion and contraction is also distributed in the direction perpendicular to the plane direction of the thin plate member. As a result, the thin plate member of the device according to the present invention is not easily deformed in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the thin plate member in the vicinity of the central portion thereof, so that the device stabilizes the expected performance against the temperature change of the thin plate member. It can be demonstrated. Furthermore, it can avoid that a thin plate body or a junction part is damaged.

  Further, when a SOFC stack in which a structure (device) composed of the thin plate member and the support member is stacked in a plurality of stages is configured, the fuel gas and the air gas are in contact with both surfaces of each thin plate member. . At this time, if there is a difference in pressure between the two gases, the pressure difference between the gases acts as an external force and acts on the thin plate. For this reason, there is a possibility that the thin plate member is deformed to narrow the flow path width. However, according to the present invention, since the thin plate body includes the convex portion and the concave portion, it is difficult to deform, and as a result, the possibility of narrowing the flow path width is reduced.

On the other hand, at least a pair of the convex portions of the plurality of convex portions are continuously extended in a direction in which the top portion located at the highest point of each convex portion is along the plane and intersects each other. The at least one pair of concave portions formed among the plurality of concave portions is continuously extended in a direction in which the bottom portion located at the lowest point of each concave portion is along the plane and intersects each other. that has been formed.

  Thus, the convex portion is “a mountain range having a longitudinal direction in a predetermined direction along the plane of the thin plate body”, and the concave portion is “a groove shape having a longitudinal direction in a predetermined direction along the plane of the thin plate body”. Then, such a concave part and a convex part deform | transform so that the expansion-contraction difference between the thin plate body and supporting member accompanying the temperature change of a device may be absorbed easily. Accordingly, it is possible to more effectively suppress the deformation of the thin plate body, particularly in the vicinity of the center portion, in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the thin plate body. Note that the mountain-shaped convex portion and / or the groove-shaped concave portion may have a linear shape or a curved shape as viewed from above the thin plate member (a shape in a plan view of the thin plate member). Also good.

  In this case, the direction in which the tops of the convex portions are continuous (the direction extending continuously) or the direction in which the bottoms of the concave portions are continuous (the direction extending continuously) is within one of the at least two locations (regions). The direction is preferably perpendicular to a straight line connecting a predetermined point (first point) and a predetermined point (second point) in the other one of the at least two locations (region). . According to this, such a concave part and convex part deform | transform so that the expansion-contraction difference between the thin plate body and supporting member accompanying the temperature change of a device may be absorbed more easily. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively suppress the deformation of the thin plate body, particularly in the vicinity of the center portion, in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the thin plate body.

  Furthermore, the thin plate body of the device according to the present invention includes a top distance average value obtained by simply averaging the distances from the plane of the top located at the highest point of the convex portions with respect to the plurality of convex portions, and a minimum of the concave portions. The average distance between the top and bottom, which is the sum of the bottom distance average value obtained by simply averaging the distance from the plane of the bottom located at the point with respect to the plurality of concave portions, is 20 μm or more and 400 μm or less. It is preferable that

  According to the study, it has been found that when the average distance between the top and bottom portions is 20 μm or more, the external force required to generate the same amount of bending in the thin plate increases (see FIG. 15). That is, it has been found that when the average distance between the top and bottom portions is 20 μm or more, the thin plate body is extremely difficult to be deformed by an external force. On the other hand, when the average distance between the top and bottom portions is 400 μm or more, microcracks are generated in the thin plate body that is a fired body due to an increase in the curvature of the concave portion and the convex portion formed on the surface of the thin plate body. It turns out that there may be cases. When microcracks occur, the strength of the thin plate body is extremely reduced. From the above, it is preferable that the average distance between the top and bottom portions is 20 μm or more and 400 μm or less.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the thin plate member of the device according to the present invention includes at least one pair of convex portions and concave portions that satisfy all of the conditions described below.
The conditions are as follows.
The convex portion is one of the plurality of convex portions.
The concave portion is one of the plurality of concave portions.
・ The concave part is adjacent to the convex part.
The distance in the direction along the plane (the plane of the thin plate member) between the top of the convex part and the bottom of the concave part (hereinafter referred to as “top bottom part plane direction distance”) is 0.05 mm or more and 1 0.000 mm or less.

  According to the study, it has been found that when the top bottom planar distance is 1.00 mm or less, the external force required to generate the same amount of deflection in the thin plate increases (see FIG. 16). That is, it has been found that when the distance in the top-bottom planar direction is 1.00 mm or less, the thin plate body is extremely difficult to deform with respect to external force. On the other hand, it has been found that when the distance in the top-bottom plane direction is less than 50 μm and the convex portion and the concave portion are very close to each other, microcracks may occur in the thin plate body that is a fired body. When microcracks occur, the strength of the thin plate body is extremely reduced. From the above, it is preferable that the top bottom plane direction distance is 0.05 mm (50 μm) or more and 1.00 mm (1000 μm) or less.

  Furthermore, the thin plate body of the device according to the present invention may be a single layer body made of only a ceramic sheet, and a laminated body (laminated fired body) of a ceramic sheet and a sheet made of a material having a different coefficient of thermal expansion from the ceramic sheet. ). In this case, the thin plate body is a fuel as a sheet made of a material having a different coefficient of thermal expansion formed by firing on one surface of the solid electrolyte layer and the solid electrolyte layer formed by firing as the ceramic sheet. It is preferable to include an electrode layer and an air electrode layer as a sheet made of a material having a different coefficient of thermal expansion formed on the other surface of the solid electrolyte layer by firing. According to this, the SOFC that can be downsized and perform stable power generation for a long period of time is provided.

In one embodiment of the invention,
The support member has a first frame portion and an upper frame portion that is erected toward the upper side of the flat surface portion and a lower frame body portion that is erected toward the lower side of the flat surface portion. A support member, and a second support member having the same shape as the first support member,
The first support member and the second support member are coaxially arranged on the upper frame portion of the first support member so that the lower frame portion of the second support member faces each other,
The thin plate member includes the first support member such that the air electrode layer is disposed on an upper surface of a planar portion of the first support member and the fuel electrode layer is disposed on a lower surface of the planar portion of the second support member. Between the upper frame body portion and the lower frame body portion of the second support member,
The upper surface of the flat portion of the first support member, the inner wall surface of the upper frame body portion of the first support member, and the air electrode layer of the thin plate body form an air flow path to which a gas containing oxygen is supplied,
A fuel flow path to which fuel containing hydrogen is supplied is formed by the lower surface of the planar portion of the second support member, the inner wall surface of the lower frame portion of the second support member, and the fuel electrode layer of the thin plate member. Is preferred.

  By stacking such devices so that the support members and the thin plate members are alternately arranged, a flat-plate stack type miniaturized SOFC is provided.

  Furthermore, the thin plate body of the device according to the present invention supports the thin plate body alone at a predetermined support location of the thin plate body and is in a direction perpendicular to the plane at a load application location other than the support location with respect to the thin plate body. When the predetermined amount of load is applied, it is assumed that the amount of bending when the thin plate member is flat without including the convex portion and the concave portion. And is configured to be smaller than the amount of deflection when a load of the predetermined size is applied to the load application location in a direction orthogonal to the plane with respect to the thin plate body supported by desirable.

  According to this, even when the thin plate is subjected to an operation of incorporating the thin plate into the device or after the thin plate is subjected to some external force after being incorporated into the device, the thin plate is not easily deformed. Therefore, it is possible to easily manufacture a device that can continue to exhibit the desired performance.

  Hereinafter, a device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Devices according to the present invention include various devices such as sensors, actuators and fuel cells.

(Overall structure of fuel cell)
FIG. 1 is a cutaway perspective view of a solid oxide fuel cell (hereinafter simply referred to as “fuel cell”) 10 which is a device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the fuel cell 10. The fuel cell 10 is formed by alternately laminating thin plate members 11 and support members 12. That is, the fuel cell 10 has a stack structure. The thin plate member 11 is also referred to as a “single cell” of the fuel cell 10. The support member 12 is also referred to as an “interconnector”.

  As shown in an enlarged circle A in FIG. 2, the thin plate member 11 includes an electrolyte layer (solid electrolyte layer) 11a, a fuel electrode layer 11b formed on the upper surface (upper surface), and an electrolyte layer. And an air electrode layer 11c formed on a surface (lower surface) opposite to the fuel electrode layer 11b on 11a. The planar shape of the thin plate member 11 is a square having sides along the x-axis and y-axis directions orthogonal to each other. The thin plate member 11 is a plate member having a thickness direction in the z-axis direction orthogonal to the x-axis and the y-axis.

  In this example, the electrolyte layer 11a is a dense fired body of YSZ (yttria stabilized zirconia) as a ceramic sheet. The fuel electrode layer 11b is a fired body made of Ni—YSZ and is a porous electrode layer. The air electrode layer 11c is a fired body made of LSM (La (Sr) MnO3: lanthanum strontium manganite) -YSZ, and is a porous electrode layer. These three layers have different coefficients of thermal expansion.

  The thin plate member 11 includes a pair of cell through holes 11d and 11d. Each cell through hole 11d passes through the electrolyte layer 11a, the fuel electrode layer 11b, and the air electrode layer 11c. The pair of cell through holes 11d and 11d are formed in the vicinity of one side of the thin plate member 11 and in the vicinity of both ends of the side. The structure of the thin plate member 11 will be described in detail later.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the support member 12 taken along the plane including the 1-1 line parallel to the x axis and parallel to the xz plane in FIG. 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the support member 12 includes a flat surface portion 12 a, an upper frame portion 12 b, and a lower frame portion 12 c. The support member 12 is made of a Ni-based heat-resistant alloy (for example, ferrite-based SUS, Inconel 600, Hastelloy, etc.). Therefore, the thermal expansion coefficient of the support member 12 and the thermal expansion coefficient of the thin plate member 11 are different. In other words, when the temperature of the fuel cell 10 changes, a difference in expansion and contraction occurs between the thin plate member 11 and the support member 12.

  The flat surface portion 12a is a thin flat plate having a thickness direction in the z-axis direction. The planar shape of the planar portion 12a is a square having sides along the x-axis and y-axis directions.

  The upper frame body portion 12b is a frame body erected toward the upper side of the flat surface portion 12a around the flat surface portion 12a (a region near four sides, that is, a region near the outer periphery). The upper frame body portion 12b includes an outer peripheral frame portion 12b1, a step forming portion 12b2, and a step extending portion 12b3.

  The outer peripheral frame portion 12 b 1 is located on the outermost peripheral side of the support member 12. The shape of the longitudinal cross section of the outer peripheral frame portion 12b1 (for example, a cross section obtained by cutting the outer peripheral frame portion 12b1 having a longitudinal direction in the y-axis direction by a plane parallel to the xz plane) is a rectangle (or a square).

  The step forming portion 12b2 is a portion extending from the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral frame portion 12b1 toward the center of the support member 12. The lower surface of the step forming portion 12b2 is connected to the flat portion 12a. The shape of the vertical cross section of the step forming portion 12b2 (for example, a cross section obtained by cutting the step forming portion 12b2 having a longitudinal direction in the y-axis direction along a plane parallel to the xz plane) is a rectangle that is a cross sectional shape of the outer peripheral frame portion 12b1. Smaller rectangle (or square).

  The step extension portion 12b3 is a portion extending from the inner peripheral surface of the step forming portion 12b2 toward the center of the support member 12 at one corner portion of the four corner portions of the flat surface portion 12a. The lower surface of the step extension portion 12b3 is connected to the flat surface portion 12a. The step extension 12b3 has a substantially square shape in plan view. The height of the step extension portion 12b3 (the length in the z-axis direction) is the same as the height of the step formation portion 12b2. A through hole TH is formed in the step extension portion 12b3. The through-hole TH also penetrates the flat portion 12a located below the step extension portion 12b3.

  The lower frame body portion 12c is a frame body erected toward the lower side of the flat surface portion 12a around the flat surface portion 12a (a region near four sides, that is, a region near the outer periphery). The lower frame part 12c has a symmetrical shape with the upper frame part 12b with respect to the center line CL in the thickness direction of the plane part 12a. Accordingly, the lower frame portion 12c includes an outer peripheral frame portion 12c1, a step forming portion 12c2, and a step extending portion 12c3 having the same shape as the outer peripheral frame portion 12b1, the step forming portion 12b2, and the step extending portion 12b3, respectively. However, the step extension portion 12c3 is disposed and formed on the diagonal line in the plan view of the plane portion 12a with respect to the step extension portion 12b3 so as to face the step extension portion 12b3.

  FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the thin plate member 11 and the pair of support members 12 in a state of supporting (holding) the thin plate member 11 taken along a plane including diagonal lines in plan view. As described above, the fuel cell 10 is formed by alternately laminating the thin plate members 11 and the support members 12. Here, the two support members 12 arranged to face each other and adjacent to each other are referred to as a first support member 121 and a second support member 122 for convenience. As shown in FIG. 4, the first support member 121 and the second support member 122 are arranged such that the lower frame body portion 12 c of the second support member 122 faces the upper frame body portion 12 b of the first support member 121. Are arranged coaxially with each other.

  The thin plate member 11 is sandwiched between the upper frame portion 12 b of the first support member 121 and the lower frame portion 12 c of the second support member 122. At this time, the thin plate member 11 is disposed so that the air electrode layer 11c faces the upper surface of the flat portion 12a of the first support member 121, and the fuel electrode layer 11b faces the lower surface of the flat portion 12a of the second support member 122. To be arranged.

  The lower surface of the outer peripheral portion of the thin plate member 11 (that is, the lower surface of the outer peripheral portion of the air electrode layer 11c) is in contact with the upper surfaces of the step forming portion 12b2 and the step extending portion 12b3 that are part of the upper frame body portion 12b of the first support member 121. The step forming portion 12b2 and the step extending portion 12b3 are joined and fixed by a conductive brazing material. Similarly, the upper surface of the outer peripheral portion of the thin plate member 11 (that is, the upper surface of the outer peripheral portion of the fuel electrode layer 11b) is a step forming portion 12c2 and a step extending portion 12c3 that are part of the lower frame portion 12c of the second support member 122. It is in contact with the lower surface and joined and fixed to the step forming portion 12c2 and the step extending portion 12c3 by a conductive brazing material. In other words, the thin plate member 11 is joined and fixed to the support member 12 (the first support member 121 and the second support member 122) in at least two portions of the thin plate member 11 (specifically, the entire outer periphery). Yes.

  Here, a method of joining and fixing the support member 12 and the thin plate member 11 will be specifically described. The fuel electrode layer 11b and the air electrode layer 11c are formed as porous electrode layers. Therefore, the conductivity between the fuel electrode layer 11b and the support member 12 is maintained and the fuel electrode layer 11b is fixed to the support member 12, and the conductivity between the air electrode layer 11c and the support member 12 is increased. In order to maintain and fix the air electrode layer 11c to the support member 12, for example, the following method is employed.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, a conductive brazing material RW is sandwiched between the porous electrode layer (the air electrode layer 11 c or the fuel electrode layer 11 b) and the support member 12. In this state, as shown in FIG. 5B, the brazing material RW is infiltrated into the porous electrode layer by the predetermined pressure reduction or pressurization to densify the porous electrode layer, and at the same time, the densification is performed. These parts are joined to the support member 12 by the brazing material RW. This bonding may be performed using a Ni—Mn metallized layer. The densified portion may be directly joined to the support member 12 using an active metal braze.

  As described above, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper surface of the flat portion 12a of the first support member 121 and the inner wall surface of the upper frame body portion 12b (the step forming portion 12b2 and the step extension portion 12b3) of the first support member 121 The air electrode layer 11c of the thin plate member 11 forms an air flow path 21 to which a gas containing oxygen is supplied. The gas containing oxygen flows into the air flow path 21 through the through hole TH of the second support member 122 and the cell through hole 11d of the thin plate member 11 as indicated by the dashed arrows in FIG.

  Further, the lower surface of the flat surface portion 12 a of the second support member 122, the inner wall surface of the lower frame body portion 12 c (the step forming portion 12 c 2 and the step extension portion 12 c 3) of the second support member 122, and the fuel electrode layer 11 b of the thin plate body 11. Thus, a fuel flow path 22 to which a fuel containing hydrogen is supplied is formed. The fuel flows into the fuel flow path 22 through the through hole TH of the first support member 121 and the cell through hole 11d of the thin plate member 11 as indicated by the solid arrow in FIG. In addition, in order that a pair of supporting member 12 (namely, the 1st supporting member 121 and the 2nd supporting member 122) which opposes may prevent a short circuit, in the part in which the thin-plate body 11 is not arrange | positioned, ( Arranged and configured to have a gap). That is, the thin plate member 11 and the support member are arranged such that a gap exists between the outer peripheral frame portion 12b1 of the first support member 121 and the outer peripheral frame portion 12c1 of the second support member 122 in a state where the thin plate member 11 is sandwiched. The dimensions of 12 parts are determined.

  The support member 12 configured in this manner is provided with a first housing portion formed in a recessed shape for disposing the thin plate member 11 on the first surface side which is one surface (upper surface). You can also Similarly, it can be said that the support member 12 includes a second accommodating portion formed in a recessed shape for disposing the thin plate member 11 on the second surface side which is the other surface (lower surface). . The same thin plate member 11 is accommodated in the first accommodating portion so that the air electrode layer 11c of one thin plate member 11 faces the upper surface of the flat surface portion 12a of one support member 12, and the other thin plate member 11 is accommodated. It can be said that the other thin plate member 11 is housed in the second housing portion so that the fuel electrode layer 11b faces the lower surface of the flat surface portion 12a of the support member 12.

The fuel cell 10 configured as described above includes, for example, a fuel flow path formed between the fuel electrode layer 11b of the thin plate member 11 and the lower surface of the flat portion 12a of the support member 12, as shown in FIG. The fuel is supplied to 22 and air is supplied to the air flow path 21 formed between the air electrode layer 11c of the thin plate member 11 and the upper surface of the flat surface portion 12a of the support member 12, and the following is shown. Power generation based on chemical reaction formulas (1) and (2) is performed.
(1/2) · O ₂ +2 ^e− → O ²⁻ (at: air electrode layer 11c) (1)
H ₂ + O ²⁻ → H ₂ O + 2 ^e− (in the fuel electrode layer 11b) (2)

(Detailed structure of the thin plate 11)
Next, the structure of the thin plate member 11 will be described in detail. As described above, the thin plate member 11 is square in plan view. The width (length of one side) a and the depth (length of the other side) b of the thin plate member 11 shown in FIG. 7 are 5 mm or more and 300 mm or less. The thickness t of the thin plate member 11 is uniform throughout and is not less than 5 μm and not more than 100 μm (for example, 30 μm).

  As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 which is a partially enlarged perspective view of the thin plate member 11, the thin plate member 11 protrudes from one plane P (for example, any one of the front surface and the back surface) P. And a plurality of concave portions 112 recessed from the plane P. These convex portions 111 and concave portions 112 can also be referred to as wrinkles, corrugated wrinkles and ribs.

  As shown in FIG. 8, at least one convex portion among the plurality of convex portions 111 has a top portion 111 a (see FIG. 9) located at the highest point of the one convex portion on the plane P. It is formed so as to extend (continuously) by a predetermined distance in the direction along the line (along the broken line in FIG. 8). That is, at least one convex part is a “mountain shape having a longitudinal direction in a predetermined direction along the plane P of the thin plate member 11”. Similarly, at least one of the plurality of concave portions 112 has a bottom portion 112a (see FIG. 9) located at the lowest point of the concave portion in a direction along the plane P (in the dashed line in FIG. 8). Along). That is, at least one concave portion is “a groove shape having a longitudinal direction in a predetermined direction along the plane P of the thin plate member 11”.

  The distance h1 from the plane P of the top 111a shown in FIG. 9 is simply averaged for a plurality of (all) convex parts 111, and the distance h2 from the plane P of the bottom 112a shown in FIG. The average distance between the top and bottom, which is the sum of the average of the bottom distances obtained by simply averaging the plurality of (all) concave portions 112, is 20 μm or more and 400 μm or less. The thin plate member 11 has a three-layer structure, but is depicted as one integrated layer in FIG.

  The thin plate member 11 is composed of one convex portion of the plurality of convex portions and one concave portion of the plurality of concave portions adjacent to the same convex portion, and the top of the same convex portion. 111a and at least one set in which the distance along the plane P with the bottom 112a of the same concave portion (the top bottom plane direction distance (w / 2) shown in FIG. 9) is 0.05 mm or more and 1.00 mm or less The convex part and the concave part are included.

(Function)
The fuel cell 10 configured as described above generates power using a chemical reaction according to the above formulas (1) and (2). However, since the fuel cell (SOFC) 10 generates power using the oxygen conductivity of the solid electrolyte layer 11a, the operating temperature of the fuel cell 10 is generally at least 600 ° C. or higher. For this reason, the fuel cell 10 is heated up to an operating temperature (for example, 800 ° C.) by an external heating mechanism (for example, a resistance heater type heating mechanism or a heating mechanism that uses heat obtained by burning fuel gas). Be warmed. At this time, since the thin plate member 11 and the support member 12 have different coefficients of thermal expansion, the thin plate member 11 and the support member 12 try to expand and contract by an amount different from each other with the temperature change. For example, when the temperature of the fuel cell 10 rapidly rises after the start of power generation, the amount of expansion of the support member 12 made of metal becomes larger than the amount of expansion of the thin plate body 11 mainly made of ceramics.

  However, since the thin plate member 11 is fixed to the support member 12 in at least two portions (in this example, the entire outer periphery), as shown in FIG. If it is flat like the thin plate member 11 ′ (that is, the thin plate member 11 does not include the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112), the large tensile stress indicated by the arrow in FIG. It is added in a direction parallel to the plane P of 11 '(plane direction of the thin plate member 11). As a result, as shown in FIG. 31B, the vicinity of the center portion of the thin plate member 11 ′ is deformed in a direction (z-axis direction) orthogonal to the plane P.

  On the other hand, the thin plate body 11 includes a plurality of convex portions 111 protruding from the plane P of the thin plate body and a plurality of concave portions 112 recessed from the same plane. Therefore, the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 of the thin plate body 11 are formed between the thin plate body 11 and the support member 12 due to the temperature change, for example, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 10 from the state shown by the broken line in FIG. It deforms so as to absorb the difference in expansion / contraction amount. In other words, as indicated by the white arrows in FIG. 4, the internal stress of the thin plate member 11 generated by the difference in the amount of expansion and contraction is dispersed in the plane direction and the direction orthogonal to the plane direction. As a result, the vicinity of the central portion of the thin plate member 11 is hardly deformed in a direction (z-axis direction) orthogonal to the plane P of the thin plate member 11, so that the thin plate member 11 closes the air flow path 21 or the fuel flow path 22. It will not be deformed. Accordingly, since the thin plate member 11 does not come into contact with the flat portion 12 a of the support member 12, the fuel cell 10 can stably exhibit the expected performance against the temperature change of the thin plate member 11.

Furthermore, at least one convex portion 111 is “a mountain range having a longitudinal direction in a predetermined direction along the plane P of the thin plate body 11”, and at least one concave portion 112 is “a predetermined direction along the plane P of the thin plate body 11. Therefore, the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 easily absorb the difference in expansion and contraction between the thin plate member 11 and the support member 12 due to the temperature change of the fuel cell 10. It deforms as follows. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively suppress the vicinity of the center portion of the thin plate member 11 from being deformed in the direction orthogonal to the plane P.

  Further, since the thin plate member 11 includes a plurality of convex portions 111 and concave portions 112, it is difficult for the thin plate body 11 to be deformed by an external force. Accordingly, even when the thin plate 11 is subjected to some external force when performing an operation of incorporating the thin plate 11 as a part of the fuel cell 10, the thin plate 11 is hardly deformed. Further, even when a pressure difference is generated between the air gas flowing through the air flow path 21 and the fuel gas flowing through the fuel flow path 22, and the pressure difference acts as an external force on the thin plate body 11, the thin plate body Since 11 is difficult to deform with respect to an external force, the possibility of narrowing the flow width (height) of the air flow path 21 and the fuel flow path 22 is also reduced. As a result, the fuel cell 10 that exhibits the desired performance is easily provided. Hereinafter, this point will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14. In FIGS. 11 to 14, the convex portions 111 and the concave portions 112 are not shown to simplify the drawings.

  For this study, as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the thin plate member 11 is supported at a distance L in the vicinity of both ends in the left-right direction (that is, the length of the beam is L). In contrast, a load F in a direction orthogonal to the plane P of the thin plate member 11 is applied. The point at which the load F is applied (load application point) is the center of the thin plate 11 (a position at a distance L / 2 from each of the two support parts, and a position at a distance b / 2 from the front or rear side in the depth direction. ). In the sample of the thin plate member 11, the distance L is 40 mm, the distance b is 30 mm, and the thickness t is 30 μm.

Assuming that the thin plate member 11 does not have the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112, the deflection in the direction perpendicular to the plane P (the direction of the load F) at the position where the load F is applied as shown in FIG. When the amount is y, the deflection amount y is expressed by the following equation (3) in terms of material mechanics. In the following, a thin plate body that does not include the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 is referred to as a virtual thin plate body.

Here, the cross-sectional secondary moment I is expressed as in equation (4).

Therefore, by substituting the equation (4) into the equation (3), the deflection amount y is expressed as the following equation (5).

  Assuming that the load F and Young's modulus E (E = 200 GPa in the case of zirconia) are constant, the amount of deflection y is proportional to the cube of the length L of the beam, It is understood that it is inversely proportional to the thickness b and inversely proportional to the cube of the thickness t of the thin plate member. Therefore, if the length L of the beam and the length b of the depth are constant, the deflection amount y is inversely proportional to the cube of the thickness t. Accordingly, the relationship between the deflection amount y and the thickness t is represented by a dashed curve C1 in FIG.

  On the other hand, in the thin plate body 11 including the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 described above, the load F, Young's modulus E, beam length L, depth length b, and the like are the same as the virtual thin plate body. However, the relationship between the deflection amount y and the thickness t changes as represented by the solid curve C2 in FIG. That is, the deflection amount y of the thin plate body 11 including the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 is smaller than the deflection amount y of the virtual thin plate body having the same thickness t as the thin plate body 11.

  For example, when the load F necessary to bend the virtual thin plate member by 1 mm (y = 1 mm) was measured, it was 5.1 g weight. On the other hand, according to the calculation, the load F when the bending amount y of the virtual thin plate member is 1 mm is equivalent to F = 0.12N (about 12 g weight) from the equation (3).

  On the other hand, when the load F necessary to bend 1 mm (y = 1 mm) of the thin plate 11 provided with the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 was measured, it was 78.3 g weight. In other words, the load necessary to bend the thin plate member 11 by a predetermined amount is much larger than the load necessary to bend the virtual thin plate member by the same predetermined amount.

  Further, the relationship between the above-mentioned average value of the distance between the top and bottom and the “load necessary for bending the ceramic thin plate by 1 mm” was investigated, and the result is shown in FIG. From FIG. 15, it can be seen that when the average distance between the top and bottom is 20 μm or more, the load increases rapidly. On the other hand, when the average distance between the top and bottom portions is 400 μm or more, microcracks are generated in the thin plate body that is a fired body due to an increase in the curvature of the concave portion and the convex portion formed on the surface of the thin plate body. Therefore, an extremely weak thin plate was generated. From the above, it is preferable that the average distance between the top and bottom portions is 20 μm or more and 400 μm or less.

  Further, the “distance (w / 2) in the direction along the plane P between the top portion 11a of one convex portion and the bottom portion 12a of the same concave portion” (that is, the distance in the top bottom plane direction) and the “ceramic thin plate body” The relationship with the “load required to bend 1 mm” was investigated, and the result is shown in FIG. From FIG. 16, it can be seen that the load increases rapidly when the distance in the top-bottom plane direction is 1000 μm (1.00 mm) or less. Therefore, when the top bottom plane direction distance is 1000 μm (1 mm) or less, the thin plate member 10 that is resistant to deformation can be obtained. On the other hand, when the distance between the top and bottom plane direction is less than 50 μm and the convex portion 11 and the concave portion 12 are extremely close to each other, micro cracks are generated in the thin plate body that is a fired body. The body occurred. From the above, it is preferable that the top-bottom planar distance is 50 μm or more and 1 mm or less.

Next, a method for manufacturing the thin plate member 11 will be described.
(Example of the first manufacturing method)
The thin plate member 11 is formed by firing a ceramic sheet (YSZ tape) prepared by a green sheet method at 1400 ° C. for 1 hour, and forming a sheet (a layer to be the fuel electrode layer 11b) on the lower surface of the fired member by a printing method. Then, firing is performed at 1400 ° C. for 1 hour, and further, a sheet (a layer that becomes the air electrode layer 11c) is formed on the upper surface of the fired body by the same printing method and then fired at 1200 ° C. for 1 hour. It is formed by. Here, the thickness of the dense zirconia solid electrolyte layer 11a is 30 μm, the thickness of the fuel electrode layer 11b is 10 μm, and the thickness of the air electrode layer 11c is 10 μm. The size of the thin plate member 11 was 30 mm × 30 mm (a × b). These dimensions are the same in the following.

  By the way, the thermal expansion coefficient of YSZ constituting the dense zirconia solid electrolyte layer 11a, the thermal expansion coefficient of Ni + YSZ cermet constituting the fuel electrode layer 11b, and the thermal expansion coefficient of LSM constituting the air electrode layer 11c are mutually different. It is different. Accordingly, when each is fired, there is a difference in firing shrinkage and a difference in thermal expansion, so that a substrate warp accompanying residual stress occurs after firing. Thereafter, in order to correct the warpage of the substrate (thin plate body on which the zirconia solid electrolyte layer 11a, the fuel electrode layer 11b, and the air electrode layer 11c are formed), there are undulations for forming the convex portions 111 and the concave portions 112. While the substrate is placed on the setter formed, for example, in a state where a 300 g alumina weight is placed on the substrate (the same state as the state shown in FIG. 19C), 1400 Heat again at ℃ for 1 hour. As described above, the warp of the substrate is corrected, and the thin plate body 11 including the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 is manufactured.

  In addition, after forming the layer used as the fuel electrode layer 11b on one surface of the zirconia tape used as the solid electrolyte layer 11a by a printing method, both were baked at 1400 degreeC and 1 hour, and the layer 11c used as an air electrode layer after that. May be formed by the method described above. Alternatively, the zirconia tape that becomes the solid electrolyte layer 11a and the tape that becomes the fuel electrode layer 11b are laminated and integrated, and both are fired at 1400 ° C. for 1 hour, and then the tape that becomes the air electrode layer 11c is obtained by the method described above. It may be formed.

(Second manufacturing method example)
In the second manufacturing method example, first, as shown in FIG. 17A, a green sheet 11A of ceramics (in this case, YSZ) and a pressing die 30 are prepared. On the upper surface of the pressing die 30, undulations for forming the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 are formed. Next, the green sheet 11 </ b> A is pressed against the upper surface of the pressing die 30. As a result, as shown in FIG. 17B, the green sheet 11A is formed with undulations that become the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112. And this green sheet 11A is baked on predetermined baking conditions (for example, 1400 degreeC, 1 hour), and the electrolyte layer 11a is obtained.

  After that, a sheet (a layer that becomes the fuel electrode layer 11b) is formed on the upper surface of the fired electrolyte layer 11a by a printing method, and then fired at 1400 ° C. for 1 hour. After the (layer to become the air electrode layer 11c) is formed by the printing method, it is fired at 1200 ° C. for 1 hour. As described above, the thin plate member 11 including the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 is manufactured.

(Example of third manufacturing method)
In the third manufacturing method example, as shown in FIG. 18A, a ceramic (in this case, YSZ) green sheet 11A and a firing setter 40 are prepared. On the upper surface of the firing setter 40, undulations for forming the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 are formed by an appropriate method such as grinding, polishing, and blasting. Next, as shown in FIG. 18B, while pressing the green sheet 11A against the upper surface of the firing setter 40, the green sheet 11A is subjected to predetermined firing conditions (for example, 1400 ° C., 1 hour). Bake in Thereafter, as in the second manufacturing method example, the fuel electrode layer 11b and the air electrode layer 11c are formed. As described above, the thin plate member 11 including the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 is manufactured.

(Example of 4th manufacturing method)
In the fourth manufacturing method, as shown in FIG. 19A, a ceramic (in this case, YSZ) green sheet 11A is prepared, and pre-fired ceramic pieces 11B are provided on one side of both ends of the green sheet 11A. Molded by printing. The pre-firing ceramic piece 11B is made of the same kind of ceramic as the green sheet 11A.

  Next, the green sheet 11A and the pre-fired ceramic piece 11B are fired under predetermined firing conditions (for example, 1400 ° C., 1 hour). As a result, due to the shrinkage difference between the green sheet 11A and the pre-firing ceramic piece 11B, the green sheet 11A becomes a thin plate 11C having a warp, as shown in FIG. In addition, the firing shrinkage difference between the green sheet 10A and the ceramic piece 10B can be easily controlled by using materials having different particle diameters, for example. Next, the fuel electrode layer 11b and the air electrode layer 11c are formed as in the second manufacturing method.

  Next, in order to correct the warpage of the thin plate body 11C on which the fuel electrode layer 11b and the air electrode layer 11c are formed, as shown in FIG. 19C, the weight 50 is placed on the upper portion of the thin plate body 11C. In this state (that is, while pressing downward so that the thin plate 11C is extended by the weight 50), the thin plate 11C is heated and cooled (fired) under predetermined conditions and predetermined conditions (for example, FIG. 13). The thin plate member 11C is placed on the setter 40 on which undulations for forming the convex portion 11 and the concave portion 12 shown in FIG. 5 are formed, and a 300 g alumina weight 50 is placed on the thin plate member 11C. In the mounted state, firing is performed under the conditions of 1400 ° C. and 1 hour.) Even during heating / cooling for warping correction, the amount of expansion / contraction of each layer is different, so that residual stress is generated at the interface of each layer, and the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 are formed. As a result, the thin plate member 11 having the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 shown in FIG. 1 is formed.

  In addition, by printing the green sheet 11A under predetermined conditions without printing the ceramics 11B before firing on the green sheet 11A, the thin plate body 11C having a warp as shown in FIG. It can also be obtained. That is, for example, if the green sheet 11A is baked in a state where the green sheet 11A is placed on a setter in which the center part of the setter is cut out (that is, there are only four outer frames), the center part of the green sheet 11A is self-weighted. Thus, it is possible to obtain a thin plate body 11 </ b> C having a warp in which the central portion has a concave shape after firing. And after that, the thin plate member 11 can be manufactured by the same method as the fourth manufacturing method described above.

Next, various modifications of the thin plate member according to the present invention will be described.
(First modification)
As shown in FIG. 20, the thin plate member 61 according to the first modified example of the present invention includes the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 only in the peripheral portion of the thin plate body 61. Thus, even if the convex part 111 and the concave part 112 are formed only in the peripheral part, they absorb the difference in expansion and contraction between the thin plate member 11 and the support member 12 due to the temperature change of the fuel cell 10. Therefore, it is possible to suppress deformation of the thin plate member 11 in the direction perpendicular to the plane P of the thin plate member 11 particularly in the vicinity of the center portion. By the way, the load is applied to the thin plate member 61 under the same conditions as described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13 (beam length L = 40 mm, depth b = 30 mm, thickness t = 30 μm, material is zirconia). When the load F necessary for bending the thin plate 61 by 1 mm (y = 1 mm) was measured, it was 50.2 g weight. Thus, even when the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 are formed only in the peripheral portion of the thin plate body 61, compared to the virtual thin plate body that does not include the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112, It can be understood that a thin plate body that is extremely difficult to deform against an external force is provided.

(Second modification)
As shown in FIG. 21, the thin plate member 62 according to the second modified example of the present invention includes the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 only at the central portion of the thin plate body 62. Thus, even if the convex part 111 and the concave part 112 are formed only in the central part, they absorb the difference in expansion and contraction between the thin plate member 11 and the support member 12 due to the temperature change of the fuel cell 10. It deforms as follows .

( Third Modification)
As shown in FIG. 23, the thin plate member 64 according to the third modified example of the present invention is formed such that the ridges of the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 (corrugated wrinkles) are along a square lattice. Good. Thus, even if the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 are formed in a square lattice shape, they absorb the difference in expansion and contraction between the thin plate member 11 and the support member 12 due to the temperature change of the fuel cell 10. It deforms as follows.

( Fourth modification)
As shown in FIG. 24, the thin plate member 65 according to the fourth modified example of the present invention is such that the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112 are not substantially uneven in distribution on the plane P (substantially uniform). It is provided irregularly. Thus, even if the convex part 111 and the concave part 112 are formed at random, they absorb the difference in expansion and contraction between the thin plate member 11 and the support member 12 accompanying the temperature change of the fuel cell 10. Deform.

In addition, the thin plate members 61 , 62, 64 and 65 of the first to fourth modified examples are also the shape of the undulations formed on the upper surface of the pressing die 30 of the second manufacturing method, or the third manufacturing method. It can manufacture easily by setting suitably the shape of the undulation formed in the upper surface of the setter 40 for baking.

For example, the thin plate member 64 shown in FIG. 23 can be manufactured by using a metal mesh as the pressing die 30 in the second manufacturing method example described with reference to FIG. More specifically, the ceramic green sheet 11A and the pressing die 30 made of a metal mesh are pressed against each other while applying a weight of, for example, about 5 to 100 kgf / cm ² . Thereby, the recessed part and convex part along a mesh shape can be formed in the surface of the ceramic green sheet 11A. The depths of the concave and convex portions can be controlled by the load. Then, the green sheet 11A is fired as described above. Thereafter, the fuel electrode layer 11b and the air electrode layer 11c are formed in the same manner as in the above manufacturing method. As a result, the thin plate body 64 in which the convex portions 111 and the concave portions 112 shown in FIG. 23 are arranged in a mesh shape is easily manufactured.

  As described above, the device according to the embodiment and the modified example of the present invention is a case where the temperature of the fuel cell 10 changes because the thin plate member 11 includes the convex portion 111 and the concave portion 112. In addition, it can be avoided that the vicinity of the center portion of the thin plate member 11 is largely deformed in the direction orthogonal to the plane P. Furthermore, the thin plate body 11 is more difficult to deform than the same type of thin plate body (virtual thin plate body) that does not have a convex portion and a concave portion. Therefore, if this thin plate member 11 is used, a device that is easy to manufacture and highly reliable is provided.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment and modification, A various modification can be employ | adopted within the scope of the present invention. For example, the fuel electrode layer 11b can be composed of platinum, platinum-zirconia cermet, platinum-cerium oxide cermet, ruthenium, ruthenium-zirconia cermet, or the like.

  Further, the air electrode layer 11c can be made of, for example, a perovskite complex oxide containing lanthanum (for example, lanthanum cobaltite in addition to the lanthanum manganite described above). Lanthanum cobaltite and lanthanum manganite may be doped with strontium, calcium, chromium, cobalt (in the case of lanthanum manganite), iron, nickel, aluminum or the like. Further, palladium, platinum, ruthenium, platinum-zirconia cermet, palladium-zirconia cermet, ruthenium-zirconia cermet, platinum-cerium oxide cermet, palladium-cerium oxide cermet, ruthenium-cerium oxide cermet may be used.

  In addition, although the device of the above embodiment is the fuel cell 10, it may be a sensor, an actuator, or the like. Furthermore, the thin plate member 11 was a three-layer laminate, but may be composed of a single layer of ceramics, and may be a laminate of two layers or four or more layers (for example, four to seven layers). Also good.

  Further, the support member 12 may be provided with convex flow restricting portions for flowing air or fuel as shown in FIGS. 25 to 27 on the upper surface and the lower surface of the flat surface portion 12a. Specifically, in the support member 12 shown in FIG. 25, a convex meandering partition wall portion (distribution restricting portion) 12e is formed on the flat surface portion 12a in order to meander the fuel or air in a distributed manner. ing. In the support member 12 shown in FIG. 26, in order to distribute fuel or air in a plane, a convex separated flow restricting portion 12f is formed on the flat surface portion 12a. In the support member 12 shown in FIG. 27, in order to distribute fuel or air in the plane, a plurality of convex protrusions (distribution restricting portions) 12g are formed on the flat surface portion 12a. By doing so, fuel or air circulates while being widely distributed in the plane of the flat surface portion 12a, so that the fuel cell 10 can efficiently generate power.

  Furthermore, in order to reduce the stress applied to the thin plate 11 when the temperature of the thin plate 11 and / or the support member 12 changes, a structure as shown in FIGS. 28 to 30 may be employed.

  That is, in the example shown in FIGS. 28A and 28B, the elastic support portion 71 that supports the thin plate member 11 is formed on the upper frame portion 12b and the lower frame portion 12c of the support member 12. Has been. The elastic support portion 71 is a ring-shaped leaf spring body protruding from each of the upper frame body portion 12b and the lower frame body portion 12c substantially parallel to the flat surface portion 12a.

  In this structure, as shown in FIG. 28A, the brazing material RW is disposed between one surface (upper surface or lower surface) of the elastic support portion 71 and the corner portion of the thin plate member 11, and the brazing material is melted. Then, as shown in FIG. 28B, the elastic support portion 71 and the thin plate member 11 are joined to each other. In this way, by forming the elastic support portion 71 separately from the flat surface portion 12a, it is difficult to apply stress to the thin plate body 11 even when the flat surface portion 12a is deformed by heat or the like. In addition, it is possible to avoid poor bonding between the support member 12, the thin plate member 11, and the bonding portion.

  The example shown in FIGS. 29A to 29C has a structure in which the elastic support portion 71 shown in FIGS. 28A and 28B is replaced with an elastic support portion 72. The elastic support portion 72 is a leaf spring body, like the elastic support portion 71. However, the elastic support part 72 includes a curved part (cross-sectional shape U-shaped part) 72a and a joining flat part 72b. One end of the curved portion 72a is joined to each of the upper frame portion 12b and the lower frame portion 12c. The other end of the curved portion 72a is connected to the joining plane portion 72b. The upper surface of the joining plane portion 72b is joined to the lower end surface of the thin plate member 11, that is, the air electrode layer 11c (or the upper end surface of the thin plate member 11, ie, the fuel electrode layer 11b) by the brazing material RW.

  According to this structure, when a load in the vertical direction (z-axis direction, a direction perpendicular to the plane of the thin plate member 11) as shown in FIG. 29B is applied to the thin plate member 11, and in FIG. Elastic support is provided in any case when a load in the left-right direction (direction parallel to the xy plane, direction parallel to the plane P of the thin plate member 11) is applied to the thin plate member 11 as shown in FIG. The portion 72 (particularly the curved portion 72a) is easily elastically deformed. Accordingly, since the influence of these loads on the thin plate member 11 can be reduced, it is possible to avoid damage to the thin plate member 11 and poor bonding between the support member 12, the thin plate member 11, and the joint portion.

  The example shown in FIGS. 30A to 30C has a structure in which the elastic support portion 72 shown in FIGS. 29A to 29C is replaced with an elastic support portion 73. The elastic support portion 73 has a shape that is curved and protrudes from the flat surface portion 12a. By forming the elastic support portion 72 in this manner, as in the example shown in FIGS. 29A to 29C, when a load in the vertical direction is applied to the thin plate member 11 and when the load in the horizontal direction is applied. When added to the thin plate member 11, the elastic support portion 73 is easily elastically deformed in any case. Accordingly, since the influence of these loads on the thin plate member 11 can be reduced, it is possible to avoid damage to the thin plate member 11 and poor bonding between the support member 12, the thin plate member 11, and the joint portion.

  As described above, since the internal stress of the thin plate body 11 can be reduced by supporting and fixing the thin plate body 11 to the support member 12 via the elastic members 71 to 73, the deformation of the thin plate body 11 can be more effectively performed. Can be suppressed.

  Further, the thin plate member 11 may be square, rectangular, polygonal, or circular in plan view. Further, the thin plate member 11 may be fixed to the support member 12 with glass instead of the brazing material. In addition, the convex portion 111 may have a truncated cone shape. Similarly, the concave portion 112 may have a truncated cone shape.

It is a fracture perspective view of a device (SOFC) concerning one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the fuel cell shown in FIG. 1. It is sectional drawing of the supporting member which cut | disconnected the supporting member along the plane parallel to an xz plane while including the 1-1 line | wire shown in FIG. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view which cut | disconnected the supporting member in the state which supported the thin plate body shown in FIG. 1, and a thin plate body in the plane containing the diagonal line in those planar views. It is an expanded sectional view of the junction part vicinity of the thin plate body shown in FIG. 1 and a supporting member. It is a figure explaining the distribution | circulation of the fuel and air in the fuel cell shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the thin plate body shown in FIG. It is a partial expansion perspective view of the thin-plate body shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing of the thin-plate body shown in FIG. It is the fragmentary sectional view of the thin plate which showed the mode of a deformation | transformation of the thin plate shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the thin plate body showing the size of the thin plate body shown in FIG. It is a front view of the thin plate body shown in FIG. It is a front view of the thin plate body when the thin plate body shown in FIG. 11 is deformed. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the thickness in the virtual thin plate body which is not provided with a convex part and a concave part, and the thin plate body which is provided with a convex part and a concave part. It is the graph which showed the relationship between the average value between top part bottom part distances, and the load required in order to bend a ceramic thin plate body by predetermined amount. It is the graph which showed the relationship between top part bottom part plane direction distance, and the load required in order to bend a ceramic thin plate body only by predetermined amount. It is process drawing of the 2nd manufacturing method example of the thin-plate body shown in FIG. It is process drawing of the 3rd manufacturing method example of the thin-plate body shown in FIG. It is process drawing of the 4th manufacturing method example of the thin-plate body shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the 1st modification of the thin-plate body shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the 2nd modification of the thin-plate body shown in FIG. A swash plan view of the sheet of Comparative Example. It is a perspective view of the 3rd modification of the thin-plate body shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the 4th modification of the thin-plate body shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the modification of the supporting member shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of the other modification of the supporting member shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of still another modification example of the support member shown in FIG. 1. It is an expanded sectional view of the part which joined the thin plate body shown in FIG. 1 and the supporting member with the other joining method. It is an expanded sectional view of the part which joined the thin plate body shown in Drawing 1 and a support member by other joining methods. It is an expanded sectional view of the part which joined the thin plate body shown in Drawing 1 and a support member by other joining methods. It is sectional drawing of the thin plate body and support member which show the mode of a deformation | transformation of the thin plate body in the conventional fuel cell.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Fuel cell, 11 ... Thin plate body, 11a ... Zirconia solid electrolyte layer, 11b ... Fuel electrode layer, 11c ... Air electrode layer, 11d ... Cell through-hole, 12 ... Support member, 12a ... Planar part, 12b ... Upper frame Part, 12b1 ... outer peripheral frame part, 12b2 ... step forming part, 12b3 ... step extending part, 12c ... lower frame part, 12c1 ... outer peripheral frame part, 12c2 ... step forming part, 12c3 ... step extending part, 21 ... air flow path , 22 ... Fuel flow path, 30 ... Stamping die, 40 ... Setter for firing, 111 ... Convex part, 111a ... Top part, 112 ... Concave part, 112a ... Bottom part, 121 ... First support member, 122 ... Second support member .

Claims (8)

In a device comprising: a fired thin plate including at least a ceramic sheet; and a support member that supports the thin plate,
The thin plate member is fixed to the support member at at least two portions of the outer peripheral portion of the thin plate member, and has a plurality of convex portions protruding from one flat surface of the thin plate member and is recessed from the same plane. a plurality of,
At least a pair of the convex portions of the plurality of convex portions is formed such that the top portion located at the highest point of each convex portion extends continuously in a direction along the plane and intersecting each other. In addition, at least a pair of concave portions of the plurality of concave portions is formed such that a top portion located at the lowest point of each concave portion continuously extends in a direction along the plane and intersecting each other. ,
The support member includes a flat portion, and a portion of the thin plate member excluding the outer peripheral portion forms a space facing the flat portion of the support member without being fixed . The device of claim 1, wherein
A device in which the thickness of the thin plate member is a uniform thickness of 5 μm or more and 100 μm or less. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2 , wherein
The top distance average value obtained by simply averaging the distances from the plane of the top located at the highest point of the convex part with respect to the plurality of convex parts, and the distance from the plane of the bottom located at the lowest point of the concave part The average distance between the top and bottom, which is the sum of the average of the bottom distances obtained by simply averaging the plurality of concave portions, is 20 μm or more and 400 μm or less. The device of claim 3 , wherein
The thin plate body includes one convex portion of the plurality of convex portions and one concave portion of the plurality of concave portions adjacent to the same convex portion, and the top of the same convex portion. A device including at least one pair of convex and concave portions having a distance in a direction along the plane with the bottom of the same concave portion is 0.05 mm or more and 1.00 mm or less. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The thin plate body is a laminated body of a ceramic sheet and a sheet made of a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion different from that of the ceramic sheet. The device of claim 5 , wherein
The thin plate body includes a solid electrolyte layer formed by firing as the ceramic sheet, and a fuel electrode layer as a sheet made of a material having a different coefficient of thermal expansion formed by firing on one surface of the solid electrolyte layer. And an air electrode layer as a sheet made of a material having a different coefficient of thermal expansion formed on the other surface of the solid electrolyte layer by firing. The device of claim 6 , comprising:
The support member includes a first and a said planar portion the plane portion and the lower frame portion provided upright toward upward of the plane portion beneath the upper frame portion and the flat portion provided upright around the 1 support member, and a second support member having the same shape as the first support member,
The first support member and the second support member are coaxially arranged on the upper frame portion of the first support member so that the lower frame portion of the second support member faces each other,
The thin plate member is sandwiched between an upper frame portion of the first support member and a lower frame portion of the second support member, whereby the air electrode layer is formed on the upper surface of the flat portion of the first support member. Are arranged so as to face each other, and are arranged so that the fuel electrode layer faces the lower surface of the flat portion of the second support member,
The upper surface of the flat portion of the first support member, the inner wall surface of the upper frame body portion of the first support member, and the air electrode layer of the thin plate body form an air flow path to which a gas containing oxygen is supplied,
A device in which a fuel flow path for supplying fuel is formed by the lower surface of the flat portion of the second support member, the inner wall surface of the lower frame portion of the second support member, and the fuel electrode layer of the thin plate member. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 ,
The thin plate body supports the thin plate body alone at a predetermined support location of the thin plate body and has a predetermined size in a direction perpendicular to the plane at a load application location other than the support location with respect to the thin plate body. The amount of bending when a load is applied assumes that the thin plate body is flat without being provided with the convex portion and the concave portion, and the hypothetical thin plate body is supported at the support location and the same assumption. A device that is smaller than an amount of deflection when a load having the predetermined magnitude is applied to the thin plate body in a direction orthogonal to the plane at the load application location.

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