Sagong Hyunchul, Jeong Seongcheol, Lee Hojoon
Reliability Technology R&D Department, Korea Automotive Technology Institute, Cheonan 31214, Republic of Korea.
Sensors (Basel). 2024 Feb 2;24(3):975. doi: 10.3390/s24030975.
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have gained more attention as future automobiles due to their environmental benefits and extended driving ranges. Concurrently, the global hydrogen sensor market is also experiencing substantial growth. These sensors are integrated into vehicles to detect hydrogen leakage and concentration, thereby ensuring the safety of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. In particular, hydrogen pressure sensors, commonly installed on the manifold and regulator of vehicles, can measure hydrogen pressure and diagnose safety concerns caused by hydrogen leakage in advance. In this paper, we identify the vulnerable points of hydrogen pressure sensors when exposed to vehicle driving environments, investigate failure mechanisms, and provide process optimization techniques. Specifically, our reliability modeling verifies that the components of a printed circuit board (PCB) exposed to humid environments undergo corrosion due to ion migration, leading to the generation of extrinsic series or parallel resistances, which in turn cause fluctuations of output voltage. Through structural and elemental analysis, we pinpoint process-related factors that make components vulnerable to humidity, thereby suggesting recommendations for enhancing the manufacturing process. Based on this analysis in the development stage, we can proactively address and improve reliability and further safety-related issues for future automobiles, thus preventing real field issues.
氢燃料电池汽车因其环境效益和更长的续航里程而作为未来汽车受到了更多关注。与此同时，全球氢传感器市场也在经历大幅增长。这些传感器被集成到车辆中以检测氢气泄漏和浓度，从而确保氢燃料电池汽车的安全。特别是，通常安装在车辆歧管和调节器上的氢压力传感器，可以测量氢气压力并提前诊断由氢气泄漏引起的安全问题。在本文中，我们确定了氢压力传感器在暴露于车辆行驶环境时的薄弱点，研究了失效机制，并提供了工艺优化技术。具体而言，我们的可靠性建模验证了暴露于潮湿环境中的印刷电路板（PCB）组件会因离子迁移而发生腐蚀，导致产生外部串联或并联电阻，进而引起输出电压波动。通过结构和元素分析，我们找出了使组件易受湿度影响的与工艺相关的因素，从而提出了改进制造工艺的建议。基于开发阶段的这一分析，我们可以主动解决并提高可靠性以及未来汽车的进一步安全相关问题，从而防止实际现场问题的发生。
