Safety Assessment of PowerBeam Flywheel Technology
- ORNL
The greatest technical challenge facing the developer of vehicular flywheel systems is the issue of safety. The PowerBeam flywheel system concept, developed by HyKinesys Inc., employs a pair of high aspect ratio, counter-rotating flywheels to provide surge power for hybrid vehicle applications. The PowerBeam approach to safety is to design flywheels conservatively so as to avoid full rotor burst failure modes. A conservative point design was sized for use in a mid-size sedan such as a Chevrolet Malibu. The PowerBeam rotor rims were designed with a steel tube covered by a carbon fiber reinforced composite tube. ORNL conducted rotor design analyses using both nested ring and finite element analysis design codes. The safety factor of the composite material was 7, while that of the steel was greater than 3. The design exceeded the PNGV recommendation for a safety factor of at least 4 for composite material to prevent flywheel burst.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 975070
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/TM-2009/251; VT0301020; CEVT044; TRN: US201009%%413
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Flywheel rotor and containment technology development
AN ASSESSMENT OF FLYWHEEL HIGH POWER ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGY FOR HYBRID VEHICLES