Manufacture and NDE of Multi-direction Composite Flywheel Rims

A universal winding machine is designed and constructed to manufacture a Multi-direction Composite (MDC) flywheel. The machine has three translation axes ( XYZ) for the main carriage, three rotation axes around XYZ and an axis of mandrel rotation. Radial rings comprising fibers in the radial direction and hoop rings with fibers in the hoop direction are manufactured using this machine. Multiple hoop and radial rings are assembled in a special assembly mold to form an MDC rim. Manufacturing details and results of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) using X-ray and thermal techniques conducted of radial and hoop rings are presented.