Residual stress mapping in the zirconia electrolyte layer of a high-temperature solid oxide fuel cell

X-ray residual stress evaluation has been employed to measure stress distributions in the electrolyte layer of a single anode-supported planar solid oxide fuel cell at several manufacturing steps. The mainly thermal residual stress in the about 10 gm thick electrolyte layer is about -560 MPa at room temperature and constant across the whole cell plate. Chemical reduction of the anode leads to a slight reduction of the compressive stress to -520 MPa, still ensuring that the electrolyte layer remains under compression up to operation temperature of about 800 degrees C.