Therefore, while weight saving is a prime aim in all aircraft design, it is especially so for helicopters. This paper gives an indication of the dollar value of weight saving and other performance improvements, in the hope that this will help to stimulate development of suitable advanced batteries. While weight and maintenance needs are two prime areas where improvement in batteries is highly desirable, it will be vital to retain the ability for fast recharging. Another consequence of the highly variable charge and discharge duty cycles associated with helicopter operations is uncertainty about the state-of-charge of the battery. Constant potential charging will continue to be more common than the constant current mode, unless the cost and weight penalty of the latter is offset by comparable savings from a new battery that demands a charger. With nickel-cadmium batteries the high initial surge in recharging current from a constant potential source, and the inefficiency of charging, impose fairly significant penalties. More important than all the above, any potential hazards associated with a battery type new to aircraft must be identified. If the hazard can't be eliminated, then effective protection must be developed in the same way that containment and overboard venting of gasses, and cell temperature or charge current monitoring, are used with nickel-cadmium aircraft batteries to prevent accumulation of explosive vapor and to give warning of incipient thermal runaway.
Future needs for helicopter battery systems
Kuenftiger Bedarf an Batteriesystemen fuer Hubschrauber
1982
3 Seiten, 3 Bilder
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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