4 ms·
I disagree, even modern cars have a lot of unsolved problems with thermal expansion and cracking causing failures of cylinder heads, gaskets, exhaust manifolds,
by _yb2s 3y ago
I disagree, even modern cars have a lot of unsolved problems with thermal expansion and cracking causing failures of cylinder heads, gaskets, exhaust manifolds, turbochargers, etc.
It may be solved in principle, but certainly not in practice.
- barelyauser 3y agoThere are problems that are game stoppers and there are problems that are unavoidable. Cars work. Yes, if you drive 1 million miles you will have cracks in the engine due to thermal expansion, but who cares? Make a new engine and get over it. Now consider a space elevator. Material problems are a game stopper.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoThese problems are already solved for very high end aftermarket exhaust systems, which use Inconel.
- dublinben 3y ago"Modern" cars run on electricity and don't have any of those parts or their corresponding problems.
- barelyauser 3y agoYour "modern" cars have cooling loops for their battery, therefore cyclic thermal fatigue.
- zdragnar 3y agoPlus the bearings, heat from (regenerative) braking, and I'm sure a few other parts.
- burnished 3y agoI think the important bit is that this isnt 'a lot' of systems, it is comparatively few.
- scythe 3y agoI haven't looked it up, but I'm sure the magnitude of thermal cycling in a battery is way less than in a combustion engine.