Conceptual Design of a Structural-Battery Hybrid-Electric Aircraft

This paper describes an innovative hybrid-electric aircraft concept employing structural batteries (SB), i.e. multifunctional materials capable of storing electric energy and sustaining mechanical loads. This cutting-edge technology, currently under advanced development, is expected to impact deeply on multiple application fields in the future. SB mechanical characteristics are still relatively poor, but their energy storage capacity is significant, making them suitable for aeronautical applications. This inspired a concept that integrates SB in the whole airframe, avoiding the need for carrying too large an amount of heavy classic batteries to achieve a reasonable range. This concept is applied to a 4-seat, single-propeller airplane emerged as a promising answer to the stagnation observed in the field of General Aviation. The design aims at showing the potential benefits in drastic chemical and noise pollution reduction, while providing competitive operating costs and flight performance.