Flywheel

For other uses, see Flywheel (disambiguation).

Trevithick's 1802 steam locomotive used a flywheel to even out the power of its single cylinder.

G2 Flywheel Module, NASA

Flywheel movement

An industrial flywheel

A flywheel is a rotating mechanical device that is used to store rotational energy. Flywheels resist changes in rotational speed by their the moment of inertia. The amount of energy stored in a flywheel is proportional to the square of its rotational speed. The way to change a flywheel stored energy is by increasing or decreasing its rotational speed by the application of a torque at its axis of symmetry,

Common uses of a flywheel include:

• Smoothing the power output of an energy source. For example flywheels are used in reciprocating engines because the energy source, torque from the engine, is intermittent.
• Delivering energy at rates beyond the ability of an energy source. This is achieved by collecting energy in a flywheel over time and then releasing it quickly, at rates that exceed the abilities of the energy source.
• Controlling the orientation of a mechanical system. See gyroscope

Flywheels are typically made of steel and rotate on conventional bearings; these are generally limited to a revolution rate of a few thousand RPM. Some modern flywheels are made of carbon fiber materials and employ magnetic bearings, enabling them to revolve at speeds up to 60,000 RPM (1 kHz).

Carbon-composite flywheel batteries have recently been manufactured and are proving to be viable in real-world tests on mainstream cars. Additionally, their disposal is more eco-friendly.

Applications

A Landini tractor with exposed flywheel

Flywheels are often used to provide continuous power output in systems where the energy source is not continuous. For example, a flywheel is used to smooth fast angular velocity fluctuations of the crankshaft in a reciprocating engine. In this case, a crankshaft flywheel stores energy when torque is exerted on it by a firing piston, and returns it to the piston to compress a fresh charge of air and fuel. Another example is the friction motor which powers devices such as toy cars. In unstressed and inexpensive cases to save on materials the bulk of the mass of the flywheel is toward the rim of the wheel. Pushing the mass away from the axis of rotation heightens rotational inertia for a given total mass.

Modern automobile engine flywheel

A flywheel may also be used to supply intermittent pulses of energy at power levels that exceed the abilities of its energy source. This is achieved by accumulating energy in the flywheel over a period of time, at a rate that is compatible with the energy source, and then releasing energy at a much higher rate over a relatively short time when it is needed. For example flywheels are used in riveting machines. Flywheels can be used to control direction and oppose unwanted motions, see gyroscope. Flywheels in this context have a wide range of applications from gyroscopes for instrumentation to ship stability </ref>

The table below contains calculated values for materials and comments on their viability for flywheel applications. CFRP stands for carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, and GFRP stands for glass-fiber reinforced polymer.

Material	Specific tensile strength $({\frac {kJ}{kg}})\$	Comments
Ceramics	200-2000 (compression only)	Brittle and weak in tension, therefore eliminate
Composites: CFRP	200-500	The best performance—a good choice
Composites: GFRP	100-400	Almost as good as CFRP and cheaper
Beryllium	300	The best metal, but expensive, difficult to work with, and toxic to machine
High strength steel	100-200	Cheaper than Mg and Ti alloys
High strength Al alloys	100-200	Cheaper than Mg and Ti alloys
High strength Mg alloys	100-200	About equal performance to steel and Al-alloys
Ti alloys	100-200	About equal performance to steel and Al-alloys
Lead alloys	3	Very low
Cast Iron	8-10	Very low

The table below shows calculated values for mass, radius, and angular velocity for storing 500 J. The carbon-fiber flywheel is by far the most efficient; however, it also has the largest radius. In applications (like in an automobile) where the volume is constrained, a carbon-fiber flywheel might not be the best option.

Material	Energy storage (J)	Mass (kg)	Radius (m)	Angular velocity (rpm)	Efficiency (J/kg)	Energy density (kWh/kg)
Cast Iron	500	0.0166	1.039	1465	30121	0.0084
Aluminum Alloy	500	0.0033	1.528	2406	151515	0.0421
Maraging steel	500	0.0044	1.444	2218	113636	0.0316
Composite: CFRP (40% epoxy)	500	0.001	1.964	3382	500000	0.1389
Composite: GFRP (40% epoxy	500	0.0038	1.491	2323	131579	0.0365

Table of energy storage traits

Flywheel purpose, type	Geometric shape factor (k) (unitless – varies with shape)	Mass (kg)	Diameter (cm)	Angular velocity (rpm)	Energy stored (MJ)	Energy stored (kWh)	Energy density (kWh/kg)
Small battery	0.5	100	60	20,000	9.8	2.7	0.027
Regenerative braking in trains	0.5	3000	50	8,000	33.0	9.1	0.003
Electric power backup	0.5	600	50	30,000	92.0	26.0	0.043

For comparison, the energy density of petrol (gasoline) is 44.4 MJ/kg or 12.3 kWh/kg.

High-energy materials

For a given flywheel design, the kinetic energy is proportional to the ratio of the hoop stress to the material density and to the mass:

• $E_{k}\varpropto {\frac {\sigma _{t}}{\rho }}m$

${\frac {\sigma _{t}}{\rho }}$ could be called the specific tensile strength. The flywheel material with the highest specific tensile strength will yield the highest energy storage per unit mass. This is one reason why carbon fiber is a material of interest.

For a given design the stored energy is proportional to the hoop stress and the volume:

• $E_{k}\varpropto \sigma _{t}V$

Rimmed

A rimmed flywheel has a rim, a hub, and spokes. Calculation of the flywheel's moment of inertia can be more easily analysed by applying various simplifications. For example:

• Assume the spokes, shaft and hub have zero moments of inertia, and the flywheel's moment of inertia is from the rim alone.
• The lumped moments of inertia of spokes, hub and shaft may be estimated as a percentage of the flywheel's moment of inertia, with the majority from the rim, so that $I_{\mathrm {rim} }=KI_{\mathrm {flywheel} }$

For example, if the moments of inertia of hub, spokes and shaft are deemed negligible, and the rim's thickness is very small compared to its mean radius ($R$), the radius of rotation of the rim is equal to its mean radius and thus:

• $I_{\mathrm {rim} }=M_{\mathrm {rim} }R^{2}$

See also

• Dual mass flywheel
• Flywheel energy storage
• Diesel rotary uninterruptible power supply
• List of moments of inertia
• Clutch

External links

• Flywheel batteries on Interesting Thing of the Day.
• Flywheel-based microgrid stabilisation technology., ABB
• PowerStore