A COMPOSITE MATERIAL FLYWHEEL FOR ENERGY STORAGE.

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES AN INNOVATIVE COMPOSITE MATERIAL FLYWHEEL DESIGN IDEALLY SUITED FOR THE GSFC/UOM MAGNETICALLYSUSPENDED FLYWHEEL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM ROTOR. THE PROPOSED ROTOR IS AN INTERFERENCE ASSEMBLED (I.E. PRESTRESSED) COLLECTION OF COMPOSITE MATERIAL THIN RINGS WHICH, WHEN ASSEMBLED TOGETHER, COLLECTIVELY FORM A THICK RING FLYWHEEL ROTOR. THERE ARE NO SPOKES OR STRESS CONCENTRATION GEOMETRIES ON THIS ROTOR AND, WITH PROPER DESIGN, THE SPECIFIC ENERGY DENSITIES OF THE ROTOR CAN APPROACH THEIR THEORETICAL DESIGN LIMIT AND THE ROTOR CAN OPERATE RELIABLY WITH MINIMUM CONTAINMENT. THE UNIQUE ROTOR DESIGN IS DISCUSSED IN DETAIL IN THE PROPOSAL AND TECHNIQUES TO ANALYZE ROTOR STRESSES AND OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE ARE PROPOSED. A STUDY OF FABRICATION METHODOLOGIES AND COMPOSITE MATERIAL PROPERTIES IS PROPOSED WITH THE END OBJECTIVE OF SELECTING THE MOST SUITABLE MATERIALS AND FABRICATION METHOD TO PREPARE AND CURE THE COMPOSITE ROTOR.