Battery Cell Orientation for Electric Aircraft Crash Safety

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Solution Overview

Problem

Electric aircraft batteries pose a risk of thermal runaway and electrolyte leakage during crashes, leading to safety concerns due to their hazardous materials and existing solutions not adequately addressing these issues.

Innovation Solution

The aircraft design includes a specific orientation of battery cells within the fuselage to align with expected impact directions, combined with an active cooling system and a pack monitoring system to prevent thermal runaway and electrolyte leakage, enhancing crash robustness.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Use of energy by moving object

If batteries are installed in electric aircraft, then the aircraft can operate electrically, but the batteries pose a risk of thermal runaway and electrolyte leakage during crashes

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveelectrical powerVSAvoidthermal runaway and electrolyte leakage risk

Core Design Contradiction:

Use of energy by moving objectVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-orienting battery cells during installation so that their radial axes align with expected impact directions. This preparatory orientation ensures that during a crash, the battery cells are already positioned to resist impact forces, preventing thermal runaway and electrolyte leakage before the actual impact occurs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements preliminary anti-action by configuring the battery cell orientation in advance to counteract expected impact forces. The radial axes of the battery cells are deliberately aligned with the longitudinal and dorsoventral axes of the aircraft, creating a pre-established resistance against the harmful impact forces that would otherwise cause thermal runaway or electrolyte leakage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

2Reliability

If battery cells are oriented to align with impact directions, then crash robustness is improved, but device complexity increases due to specific orientation requirements

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecrash robustnessVSAvoidbattery cell orientation configuration

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by assigning different orientation requirements to different battery cells based on their specific positions and the impact directions they need to resist. Each battery cell is oriented according to its local requirements - with radial axes aligned with either the longitudinal axis or dorsoventral axis depending on which impact direction is most relevant for that cell's location.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS11691709B1Apparatus for an electric aircraft with increased crash robustness

Publication Date: 2023.07.04 BETA AIR LLC

AI summary

An aircraft with increased crash robustness including a fuselage with a forward end, an opposite rear end, a ventral surface, and a dorsal surface. The aircraft further including a longitudinal axis running from the rear end to the forward end and a dorsoventral axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis and running from the dorsal surface to the ventral surface. The aircraft also including at least a battery module located within the fuselage comprising a plurality of battery cells, each battery cell includes an axial axis positioned orthogonally to each of the longitudinal axis and the dorsoventral axis, and each battery cell has a plurality of radial axes orthogonal to the axial axis, wherein the plurality of radial axes includes a first radial axis aligned with the longitudinal axis and a second radial axis aligned with the dorsoventral axis.