Textile-composite flywheels carry the premise of performance superior to that of filament wound wheels when used in space vehicles. The multi-direction reinforcement provides longer life and higher energy density. Innovative flexible designs for the hub and the rim can be achieved with textile composites allowing for better damping characteristic of the whole rotor. Fatigue life of the wheel at high stress levels is currently being modelled and tested at Auburn University to ensure a successful design. The idea of using flywheels to replace batteries on space vehicles (e.g., satellites) is not new. But with the advances in composites design, materials and manufacture, a new generation of strong flywheels that can spin at very high speeds to store large amount of energy is possible. These wheels, which have less volume than batteries, can store over 44 W-hr/Kgm of specific energy that is more than 10 times the ability of batteries. Moreover, the depth-of-charge (DOC) of flywheels is much higher than that of batteries. Flywheels are constructed from a rotor, mounted on a metal shaft. The shaft is supported on a group of magnetic bearings for reduced level of friction, and auxiliary bearings for backup and launch environment. Electronic control and motor generator are used for attitude control and, energy transfer. Using textile composites as flywheel reinforcement will allow the rim to withstand both the hoop and radial stress. Yarns can be oriented in the hoop, radial and axial directions in a way that achieves coherence of the preform structure and satisfy design requirements. Furthermore, using textile composites, with its unique ability to provide high specific strength and modulus can help in avoiding delamination problems associated with laminated composites. The design work for the flywheel and the fatigue modelling activities are coupled with a fatigue-testing program. The program will evaluate: (i) effect of the ratio of the relative fibre volume fraction in the radial to the hoop directions, (ii) stress-level with respect to strength in both directions, (iii) effect of biaxial loading conditions, and (iv) loading-unloading speed. Experimental work will be compared to analytical prediction to evaluate the efficacy of the new model.
Textile composite flywheels for space applications
Schwungräder aus Textilverbundstoff für die Raumfahrt
2000
5 Seiten, 6 Bilder, 3 Quellen
Conference paper
English
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