Multifunctional design, feasibility and requirements for structural power composites in future electric air taxis
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This study investigates the viability of implementing multifunctional structural power composites in a four-seater air taxi, the CityAirbus. For a given specific energy of the power source, the cruise endurance can be approximately doubled by using structural power composites as opposed to conventional batteries. Replacing all the eligible composite mass and batteries with structural power composites can reduce the CityAirbus weight by 25%. To achieve the current design performance, the minimum required elastic modulus, strength, specific energy and power for the structural power composite are 54 GPa, 203 MPa, 74 Wh/kg and 376 W/kg, respectively: current state-of-the-art structural power composites are now approaching this level of performance. Hence, structural power composites are considered feasible for adoption in the urban air mobility sector and have the potential to improve endurance and facilitate commercialization. This paper also discusses several key challenges that must be addressed to realize the adoption of structural power composites in future electric air taxis.
Date Issued
2022-10-08
Date Acceptance
2022-09-26
Citation
Journal of Composite Materials, 2022, 57 (4), pp.817-828
ISSN
0021-9983
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Start Page
817
End Page
828
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Composite Materials
Volume
57
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)
License URL
Identifier
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00219983221132621
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-10-08