Structural Energy Storage in Air Vehicle Structure

Technical abstract goes here.We propose the fabrication of large-area multilayer capacitors directly onto aircraft/UAV sur-faces to provide for electrical energy storage. The technology to accomplish this is based on direct-write thermal spray and a plasma-initiated oxidation process to grow very thin (20-50 nm) insulating layers sandwiched between conducting metal plates, all of which can be fabricated using direct-write technology. Also, the same technology can fabricate the electrical interconnects between capacitor devices, this providing for seamless integration, redundancy, and reconfiguration for optimal voltage/current output. This process is repeated to form multilayer devices 30-100 layers thick that can deliver an expected 1-2 farad capacitance per square meter. Importantly, *no* alteration to the core airframe is required: all processing can be done on the pre-existing surfaces with little or no preparation. In this program issues such as capacitance values, voltage and current, and self-discharge times will be addresses, as well as mechanical (weight and stiffness) and integration (actually fabricating energy storage capacitors on an airframe) are addressed at the design phase. A small-scale proof-of-concept demonstration is also anticipated for the Phase I program. The Phase II effort will be directed at transitioning the design concepts developed in the Phase I program to actual airfraft.