Session: 03-02-02: Advanced Manufacturing II

Paper Number: 110816

110816 - Multifunctional Design and Additive Manufacturing of Carbon Fiber Structural Battery Composites Using a Drop-on-Demand Method With In-Situ Consolidation 

Carbon fiber structural battery composites have recently attracted interests due to their potential in greatly reducing weight in multifunctional applications. While working as loading bearing structures, they can simultaneously provide electrical energy, thus eliminating parasitic weight. However, it is still very challenging to obtain both high mechanical and electrochemical performance as traditional fabrication methods are either proposed for structural or battery applications. It will be necessary to design an integrated fabrication approach for structural battery composites and to broaden structural energy storage applications. In this study, we implement an integrated experimental and numerical approach to investigate multifunctional performance of carbon fiber structural battery composites by combining a drop-on-demand additive manufacturing (AM) method with a Multiphysical numerical model. Through deposition with in-situ consolidation, the function and thickness of each carbon fiber layer as well as its fiber volume fraction are accurately controlled. Decreasing layer thickness improves flexural properties. The discharge capacity and energy density initially improve but then significantly decrease due to limited lithium transport within closely packed carbon fibers at higher volume fraction. A Multiphysical model is further developed to study the effect of print layer thickness on the multifunctional performance of the additively manufactured carbon fiber composites. An optimal fiber volume fraction exists for carbon fiber structural battery composite. A good agreement is found between prediction results and experimental measurements. The validated Multiphysical model is further used to evaluate lithium-ion concentration and stress distribution during discharge with respect to electrolyte conductivity and discharge current. The discharge process is found to be dominated by a nonuniform distribution of lithium-ion concentration due to low electrolyte ionic conductivity. The combined AM approach and validated multiphysical model provide insights in design and manufacturing of carbon fiber structural battery composites with high electrochemical and mechanical performance for multifunctional applications.

Presenting Author: Xiangyang Dong Missouri University of Science and Technology

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Xiangyang Dong currently is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and technology (Missouri S&T). Dr. Dong’s research interests focus on advancing clean-energy technologies through sustainable design and manufacturing of multifunctional composites. Through taking interdisciplinary efforts by combining multi-scale, multi-physics modeling with experiments, he aims at a better understanding of the relationships between materials microstructure, multifunctional properties, and processing conditions. In particular, he is working on structural powered composite, a novel multifunctional material that can simultaneously provide high mechanical performance and energy storage capacity, i.e., structural energy storage. In the meantime, he is developing energy-efficient and scalable additive manufacturing techniques to advance clean-energy technologies, including structural energy storage. Prior to joining Missouri S&T, he received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University.

Authors:

Xiangyang Dong Missouri University of Science and Technology
Yuekun Chen Missouri University of Science and Technology