| Prof. Fu-Kuo Chang Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics |
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Biography: Dr. Fu-Kuo Chang is a Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University. His primary research interest is in the areas of multi-functional materials and intelligent structures with particular emphases on structural health monitoring, self-sensing diagnostics, intelligent sensor networks, and multifunctional energy storage composites for transportation vehicles as well safety-critical assets. He is a recipient of the SHM Lifetime Achievement Award (2004), SPIE NDE Lifetime Achievement Award (2010), and the PHM lifetime Achievement Award (2018). He is the Editor-in-Chief of Int. J. of Structural Health Monitoring. He is also a Fellow of AIAA and ASME.
Topic: Multifunctional Energy Storage Composites (MESC) with Self-Diagnostic Capability for Air Mobility Design
Abstract: Due to recent rapid advancements in high-energy storage batteries such as lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, electric vehicles are receiving more and more attention in aviation industries. However, those high-energy batteries are often susceptible to mechanical intrusion and deformation, along with thermal runaway. Typical battery packs are compounded by layer upon layer of vehicle level mechanical enclosures and protection systems to guard the cells and provide mechanical stability while maintaining intimate contact between the functional components. In addition, there is a lack of reliable on-line prediction methods for battery state of health (SOH) and remaining service life (RSL) which leads to significant conservation in battery energy capacity design. These overhead components significantly increase the weight and reduce the energy density of the entire vehicle system, which makes air mobility design extremely challenging.
In this presentation, we introduce a new multifunctional energy storage composite (MESC) for the design of battery-power electrical vehicles. MESC is made of high-strength carbon-fiber composites embedded with lithium-ion battery materials and built-in piezoelectric sensors. A novel interlocking fabrication technique is developed to seamlessly integrate lithium-ion batteries in composites without sacrificing the structural integrity of the host while maintaining the energy capacity and electrical performance of the original battery materials. At the same time, the SOH of the integrated batteries can be monitored simultaneously using the built-in sensor networks in the composites. Prototypes of the multifunctional energy-storage composites have been fabricated and demonstrated the feasibility of potentially providing up to 30% weight savings and 50% range extension as compared to traditional cell-module-package EV design.