Mechanical effects can influence significantly electrical performance and life time of PEM fuel cells. A linear elasticplastic
2D model of fuel cell with hardening is used for modeling of assembly procedure of fuel cells. The model
simulates mechanical behavior of the main components of real fuel cell (the membrane, the gas diffusion layers, the
graphite plates, and the seal joints) and clamping elements (the steel plates, the bolts, the nuts). The stress and plastic
deformation in MEA have been calculated using ABAQUS code. The results are presented on the local and the global
scales with respect to the realistic clamping conditions. The first one corresponds to the single tooth/channel structure.
The global scale deals with features of the entire cell and takes into account the border effects, in particular the
influence of seal joints
