Air Bearings

Hovercraft?

If you saw the news interview, he does not have the time to build it,.....An idea guy. I bet almost everyone here thought of this as a kid.

Is this train going to Italy?

Air bearings:http://www.nelsonair.com/NA_primer.htm

More sources:http://www.google.com/search?q=air+bearings

the trick with air bearings is to bubble the air through low viscosity oil first to get it nice and slippery.
Del

(It's ok folks.. yes I do know there are such things as air bearings. it was a joke )

What's wrong with air bearings? If they can figure out away to pump enough volume then why not?

basically he proposes a system of "ski's that float on a cushion of air. so just imagine how much air pressure it would take to lift a truck (he says 28 passengers) and keep it suspended! the amount of energy required to do this would be enormous.so I love the idea of reduced friction I just don't buy this element of his concept.....or several other aspects of his proposal. next thing he'll probably do is sell electric cars!

You've never had experience using air bearings have you? I've been designing applications using the technology for years. They don't require high pressure at all. Typical most commercially available systems require only 80 psi. The lift capacity is based on surface area of the skid itself. A 12in x 12in skid will lift 11500 lb at 80 psi. The key is high CFM and a relatively smooth surface. I'm not saying there won't be challenges to implementing it for this type of transport system but the technology has been proven for industrial appilications for many years. YouTube AirFloat, Aircaster, Air Bearings to see how well they work.

Now, try that in an evacuated tube. That's where the whole musky concept starts to lose air.

Or take a ride in a racing tunnel boat. Been there, done that. It WILL give you a new perspective. -- JHF

Back in the 70's I inspected a manufacturer of gas expanders used to generate power by expanding high pressure gas from pipelines down to commercial pressure. They balanced the expander rotors, which ran around 25,000 rpm, in air bearings running off the shop air at 125 psi and using the same shop air to drive the expander rotors. The OD of the rotors was only around 4 to 5 inches as I recall. They used the air bearings since there was practically zero friction in doing so. The strobe tach verified the speed and it was interesting to stand there and watch that little sucker zing along with nothing but air holding it off the bearing surfaces.

actually I just did about 45 minutes on YouTube.......interesting stuff!

I said smooth not flat. Curved will work as long as the skid matches the profile.

Are you suggesting the the entire roadbed be curved to give not only lift but directional stability? Would the "skid" be restrained at the top so it could not launch itself off the track on curves?

It suspect we are thinking about two different concepts. The "road" I'm thinking of is a cylindrical tube. The transport capsule is inside the tube and would have air skids top and bottom. It can't go anywhere.

Well,

Anybody can do it that way!

I'm sure somebody will!...Here's a version of the concept where the space inside the tube is a vacuum and the the capsule "floats" using mag lev technology. They just pile a bunch of bodies into a giant bullet and fire it across the continent. Sounds like a plan to me...

Been there, done that.

We had one of these: Chicken gun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia in the basement of Motorola Govt. Div. here in Scottsdale, AZ in the 1970's as well.

We used ours to test the survivability of electronic artillery fuses when fired from 105 and 150 mm cannons.

The sudden stop at the end of the tube simulated being fired from the cannon. It destroyed a 12" cube of glued plywood.

Isn't it now General Dynamics?

Back in the late 80's - early 90's, I spent many hours at the Scottsdale facility. I met some really great engineers there.

And no, I never saw the Chicken Gun when I was there.

Yes it is, and my son works there for GD now in Field Engineering.

I left in 1988 after 23 years in the Plastics Engineering Department, the chicken gun was in the basement of the main building, under the Environmental Test Lab.

I have many fond memories of the work, and the people there, but I was not well suited to the added oversight and needless paperwork mountains that came with 6 Sigma and new management team that came along after Paul Galvin died and his son Bob took the reins.

Cheers

Six Sigma was a big deal for Motorola. I remember banners all over the place!

I was on the Government side and I was assigned to Motorola in 1991 after being the lead for the GD project for a couple years. Motorola didn't feel like a government contractor facility (like GD did). I felt it was run very efficiently and the engineers had pride in their work.

I do remember the Environmental Test Lab. Some of our parts/assemblies went through the "shake and bake" equipment. As I recall, it was to simulate environmental condition, ie cold, heat and vibration.

I do remember the Iridium Project and how the top engineers were enticed to move to the project.

An article I read says it travels within a tube. An elevated tube, no less.

Keeps gettin' better and better.

Also says runs on PV solar, independent of the grid.

I suspect air bearings are prone to bottoming out under abrupt loads, and hence unsuitable for most vehicles.

In the paper converting industry they use tiny air holes in platforms to slide heavy stacks of paper with very little effort. The bottom paper doesn't even get damaged.

I have used what we called "air sleds" to move aircraft around in a hangar. Three sleds coupled with the same air supply and one person has to be careful not to push a loaded DC3 too much. (A body in motion…?) Oops!

So an interesting idea that yes many of us,especially science fiction afficionados have thought about over the years has made it to the forebrain of many and warrants critical discussion..my question is if you are moving forward a mass (a series of masses really) in a pressurized tube how would sudden pressure changes external to the tube,due to sudden weather events say or a leak in the pressurized tube(like oil and gas and water pipelines experience) be accomedated without the tube passengers in this case,being at risk of being killed..in a violent manner

I don't mind moving 500 mph in a jet with miles of empty air around me, but I think I'll pass on travelling 700 mph inside of an evacuated tube.

I do not claim to have any experience with air bearings used in this fashion. But I can tell you that converting the Babbitt bearings from the 292 Ford V8 used in 1961 to air bearings requires more science than I had on the side of the N.Y. Thruway back in 1971.