Abstract
Over the past decade, Structural Batteries (SB) are considered a promising new technology for the next generation of hybrid electric airliners made of composite materials. The main advantages of this technology are to combine the load-bearing of composite structures with energy storage capabilities, enabling the creation of multifunctional structural batteries that can minimize the negative impact of battery weight on the aircraft, with respect to the use of the current traditional lithium-ion batteries.
In the SOLIFLY project, funded by Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 101007577, two SB concepts were investigated with a dedicated V&V plan, moving from coupons to the final delivery of an aeronautic stiffened panel with 20 integrated semi-solid-state SB cells. This project involved experts from European aircraft manufacturers and a supplier of large commercial aircraft, in order also to collect the aviation industry’s expectations and recommendations regarding the applicability of SB, at aircraft level, to commuter and regional aircraft.
This work, issued at the end of the project, provides an assessment of the potential aircraft-level scalability of the above-mentioned SB concepts, with respect to end-user requirements, for both propulsive and non-propulsive applications. It identifies pros and cons, technology gaps and recommendations, toward the SB integration into commercial aircraft for short-, medium-term (2035) and long-term (2050) applications. The current and expected performance parameters of the SB concepts, developed in the SOLIFLY project, were used to analyze the effectiveness of their applicability both on some hybrid electric aircraft configurations being in the preliminary design phase of aircraft manufactures, and on some existing configurations of different commercial aircraft. The introduction into aviation of this kind of embedded batteries presents new challenges; it is crucial that the structural batteries, structural materials and manufacturing processes are compatible with each other so as not to reduce the structural quality and performance of the new aircraft parts compared to the design of the current ones without them. This technology involves many issues, ranging from upgrading well-established manufacturing processes applied to aircraft components with the use of CFRP material systems, to updating the current building block approach for certification of composite aerostructures (EASA AMC 20-29) with more dedicated testing at different levels of complexity, as well as identifying aircraft components suitable for SB integration that includes noteworthy design and structural aspects, accessibility considerations, connection to on-board electrical systems, etc.
The result of this study shows that SB concepts certainly represent an innovative technology for the aviation decarbonization and they appear very promising for weight savings, but, on the other hand, they are a very challenging solution since a greater technological maturity is necessary to make their applicability widespread over the next two decades. Everything will depend on many factors but first and foremost on a multidisciplinary approach which also involves new founding aspects in the certification framework.
In the SOLIFLY project, funded by Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 101007577, two SB concepts were investigated with a dedicated V&V plan, moving from coupons to the final delivery of an aeronautic stiffened panel with 20 integrated semi-solid-state SB cells. This project involved experts from European aircraft manufacturers and a supplier of large commercial aircraft, in order also to collect the aviation industry’s expectations and recommendations regarding the applicability of SB, at aircraft level, to commuter and regional aircraft.
This work, issued at the end of the project, provides an assessment of the potential aircraft-level scalability of the above-mentioned SB concepts, with respect to end-user requirements, for both propulsive and non-propulsive applications. It identifies pros and cons, technology gaps and recommendations, toward the SB integration into commercial aircraft for short-, medium-term (2035) and long-term (2050) applications. The current and expected performance parameters of the SB concepts, developed in the SOLIFLY project, were used to analyze the effectiveness of their applicability both on some hybrid electric aircraft configurations being in the preliminary design phase of aircraft manufactures, and on some existing configurations of different commercial aircraft. The introduction into aviation of this kind of embedded batteries presents new challenges; it is crucial that the structural batteries, structural materials and manufacturing processes are compatible with each other so as not to reduce the structural quality and performance of the new aircraft parts compared to the design of the current ones without them. This technology involves many issues, ranging from upgrading well-established manufacturing processes applied to aircraft components with the use of CFRP material systems, to updating the current building block approach for certification of composite aerostructures (EASA AMC 20-29) with more dedicated testing at different levels of complexity, as well as identifying aircraft components suitable for SB integration that includes noteworthy design and structural aspects, accessibility considerations, connection to on-board electrical systems, etc.
The result of this study shows that SB concepts certainly represent an innovative technology for the aviation decarbonization and they appear very promising for weight savings, but, on the other hand, they are a very challenging solution since a greater technological maturity is necessary to make their applicability widespread over the next two decades. Everything will depend on many factors but first and foremost on a multidisciplinary approach which also involves new founding aspects in the certification framework.
Originalsprache | Englisch |
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Titel | Dynamic Response and Failure of Composite Materials |
Untertitel | DRAF 2024 |
Redakteure/-innen | Valentina Lopresto, Ilaria Papa |
Seiten | 233-239 |
ISBN (elektronisch) | 978-3-031-77697-7 |
DOIs | |
Publikationsstatus | Veröffentlicht - 22 Dez. 2024 |
Publikationsreihe
Name | Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering |
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Herausgeber (Verlag) | Springer Cham |
ISSN (Print) | 2195-4356 |
ISSN (elektronisch) | 2195-4364 |
Research Field
- Hybrid Electric Aircraft Technologies