3 ms·
The flywheels GP refers to were homopolar generators [1]. They created an impressive current pulse, and extracted almost all the kinetic energy in less than on
by jhayward 6y ago
The flywheels GP refers to were homopolar generators [1]. They created an impressive current pulse, and extracted almost all the kinetic energy in less than one revolution.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopolar_generator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopolar_generator
- aspenmayer 6y agoLike running an electromagnet in reverse to salvage current from a free-spinning motor? I’m trying to understand how the fields and forces interact.
- jhayward 6y agoThere is a paper [1] published that documents one of the early 1980's designs they used. [1] https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/30831/PR_81.pdf https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/30...
- aidenn0 6y agoA different paper specifically mentioning the railgun shows a more traditional alternator design: https://web.archive.org/web/20151017100843/http://www.utexas.edu/research/cem/IEEE/PR%2043%20Werst%20Publications.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20151017100843/http://www.utexas...
- jhayward 6y agoYah, that's a railgun, but it's not what everyone around CEM called the railgun. The difference being one between a .50 caliber machine gun and something that can sink a ship from 100km away. I worked across the street from CEM at the time. Firing the railgun was a big deal. The mechanical stresses on the electrical systems were pretty severe. The vast proportion of what UT CEM was doing in that era was with the big gun, for Navy and SDI type projects.
- aidenn0 6y agoHuh, I thought they used an alternator like design: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensated_pulsed_alternator https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensated_pulsed_alternato...