Regenerative Braking Through Elastomeric Energy Storage

摘要

The project goals are to improve the energy density and fatigue life of the elastomeric units through elastomer formulations and fabrication technique research, and to verify that a compact method of attachment is feasible in full-size units. Samples of a new compound have shown an improvement of 100% in energy density as compared with the previous compound. The energy density, hysteresis loss, and fatigue life of fullsize units fabricated with this compound will be measured during this project. Molding techniques commonly used within the rubber industry give rise to surface flaws on the finished energy storage units, and these surface flaws have been identified as sources of subsequent fatigue failure. A molding technique aimed at minimizing surface flaws will be investigated during this project. Small-scale energy storage units were used to carry out a comparison of compact attachment concepts. One concept has been selected and will be incorporated into full-size units for test and evaluation during this project. (ERA citation 08:000647)