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20 May 2024 18:23
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Question |
| Asked by: |
Luis Gonzalez |
| Subject: |
Building Successful Propulsion Devices |
| Question: |
Designers must be able to estimate the expected thrust (at minimum) of proposed propulsion-devices. How can one calculate the thrust of a gyro-propulsion design and why is it important to estimate?
First, trial-and-error innovation requires enormous funding and resources. It is possible to obtain initial results without well-thought-out planning. However final success requires a tradeoff between rigorous planning and an extraordinary number of trials and failures. (Tomas Edison required over 5,000 experiments to invent the incandescent light-bulb. How many gyro-propulsion experiments have been completed thus far, and at what cost?) Accidental discovery is common but must be followed by smarter resources to achieve desired goals. (Finding that bread-mold destroys bacteria was accidental, the creation of antibiotics was not.)
How does one estimate the expected thrust of a device?
My device is a 2 cycle design. The first cycle uses precession to position the flywheel at a higher point. The second cycle produces thrust by returning the flywheel to the original position (it is key not to allow downward precession during this part of the cycle), thus creating a counter action (equal and opposite reaction) on the part of the device as a whole.
My thrust-estimate is based entirely on the downward motion of the flywheel. The distance from the top-most position of the flywheel to its bottom-most position is the length of the trust. (Yes, I must mitigate or prevent the counter-action that can be caused as the flywheel is brought to a stop at the bottom of the cycle and thus cancel the benefit of the downward motion. That is where the cleverness of the design comes into play.)
The distance of the thrust is determined by the length of the axis that attaches to the flywheel and the angle of rotation during the downward thrust. The Force = F of the thrust is determined by the mass = M, times the acceleration = A applied during the completion of the downward flywheel motion through a distance = S. The distance (S) from the top position to the bottom position is equal to S= (1/2) (A) (t) (t) where A=acceleration rate, and t=time. From this common equation we can derive the rate of acceleration during a specific stroke, it is A = (2S) / (t) (t).
Therefore if I can determine the displacement and duration of the downward stroke (based on the dimensions of the design and the torque of the motor, spring, or other actuator, etc) then I can calculate the acceleration that the flywheel will be subjected to, during the downward motion.
To obtain the ongoing rate of acceleration (as opposed to acceleration during a single stroke) I must estimate the duration of thrust in relationship to the full cycle. This ratio is then multiplied by the acceleration of the downward-stroke. In my design the acceleration lasts half the time of the full cycle so I must multiply the calculated acceleration by 0.5. The result can be adjusted for vibration (caused by dead weight of the flywheel-frame and such). The final acceleration is then multiplied by the mass of the flywheel providing a close estimate of what’s expected to be the net Force (F=MA) produced by my design once it is built and operated.
To determine how much weight or lift my machine may deliver I need to estimate the weight of the entire apparatus (including flywheels) and multiply that by the acceleration of gravity (32ft/sec.sec) yielding the gravitational force that keeps my device solidly on the ground. The ratio of, the force produced by my device, to the force of gravity on my device, should provide a percent-of-lost-weight (or the rate of upward acceleration).
The next question is; how can I improve the upward force of my device? I can:
a) Increase the ratio of the mass of the flywheels to the total weight of the device
b) Increase the distance of my downward thrust
c) Reduce the time (t) that it takes for each stroke/cycle to complete
d) Or reduce the overall weight of the device.
The strength of the components and the power of my motors etc limit how much I can increase the mass/weight of the flywheels.
The distance of the downward thrust is limited by the overall size (not weight) of my device.
However, I can reduce the overall weight of the device by innovative use of modern materials and engineering. With the right materials and technology I can also reduce the time of each stroke and this provides the greatest gain because, as I reduce the duration of each cycle (t), the acceleration increases exponentially (while all the other factors provided only linear benefits).
Q. How would you estimate the propulsion thrust of your design?
(If you can’t come up with a good estimate, it may be time to re-evaluate your design.)
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| Date: |
22 August 2005
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| Answer: |
Luis Gonzalez - 22/08/2005 03:50:25
| | | I am sorry. I have placed this question in he wrong place agin.
Please remove it if posible.
Thanks, Luis
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