An investigation into the performance of structural composite capacitor by Taguchi method

Structural capacitors are multifunctional structural materials that provide structural strength and energy storage together and aim to reduce greatly the weight of a system. In this paper, the effect of dielectric separator materials such as poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and biaxially oriented polypropylene, the weave structure of carbon (C) fabric and the thickness of dielectric material on the multifunctional performance of structural capacitors was investigated. In order to plan experiments, analyze and interpret results and optimize factors (dielectric separator material, carbon fabric weave type, dielectric material thickness) that affect the multifunctional performance, design of experiments (DOE) was used. DOE was carried out using the Taguchi method. Structural capacitor materials were manufactured according to an experimental layout based on Taguchi’s L6 orthogonal array and were mechanically and electrically tested to evaluate their multifunctional efficiency. In addition, optimal combinations of factor levels were determined, and the optimum performance that can be obtained with these combinations was calculated by applying the Taguchi method. The results show that higher electrical and mechanical performance is obtained in the structural capacitor using twill-woven fabric. Also, in particular, PVC film, which is a widely available and low-cost polymer film, can be used as dielectric material in structural capacitors.