Spoked disc flywheel

Abstract

Abstract A rotary energy storage device comprised of rod-like, essentially anisotropic members which extend radially from the perimeter of a central hub. The radial orientation of the rodlike members cause the unsupported portions of the members, i.e., those portions of the members not attached to or embedded in the central hub, to be in pure tension during rotation of the device. The rod-like members are shaped such that they are thicker axially at their inner ends and taper to a flattened conformation at their outer ends, the degree of taper allowing the members to be contiguous to each other along their lateral surfaces such that the members effectively form a solid disc. The swept volume of the rotary device is thereby continuously occupied by the essentially anisotropic members, thus maximizing energy stored per unit volume. The present rotor configuration may be preferably formed of essentially uniaxial filamentary composite materials, such as wood, due primarily to the reduced costs of fabrication. Formation of the members of wood rather than high tensile strength filamentary composites provides the additional advantage of reducing the load which the central hub is required to carry.

Inventors

• 👤 David W Rabenhorst

Bibliographic Details