Email or username:

Password:

Forgot your password?
Ken's posts Post Back to profile
Top-level
gom

@kenshirriff
Gosh, some engineers pitched Hydrogen filled gyros, fully aware that this is going to at least double the costs due to increased requirements for every part while not even providing near the same performance increase. Those engineers got a green light for this..

I'm envious!

19 August at 19:52 | Wall-to-wall | Open on chaos.social
2 comments
Ken Shirriff

@gom The gyros were originally filled with helium, but for Minuteman II they switched to hydrogen to reduce gas drag. Then in Minuteman III they added baffles to reduce gas turbulence. Every bit of accuracy is important!

19 August at 21:31 | Open on oldbytes.space
gom

@kenshirriff
Well, the switch to hydrogen not only lowers drag but also the load bearing capabilities (by a lot). Compensation is possible by increasing relative speeds between bearing surfaces and/or decreasing the gap.
Sounds simple, but really isn't.

Nerdsnipe (paper about gas lubricated bearings):
mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/appl

For comparison, modern HDDs are Helium filled to lower the flight height of the read/write head to ~5nm . >>

@kenshirriff
Well, the switch to hydrogen not only lowers drag but also the load bearing capabilities (by a lot). Compensation is possible by increasing relative speeds between bearing surfaces and/or decreasing the gap.
Sounds simple, but really isn't.

Nerdsnipe (paper about gas lubricated bearings):
mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/appl

19 August at 21:56 | Open on chaos.social
Go Up