From: karol+@pitt.edu (Filip M. Gieszczykiewicz (fmgst+@pitt.edu))
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Flywheel batteries as EV power source
Summary: other stuff + T.Zone
Date: 3 Jan 93 15:17:40 GMT
Followup-To: sci.electronics
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1hnmn4INNnna@gap.caltech.edu> carl@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU writes:
>
>Given the amount of energy we're talking about, and the fact that both storage
>systems would, in the event of a casastrophic failure, release their energy
>quickly enough to vaporize much of themselves, I'm not sure how you'd tell that
>it was a spring storage system that had failed rather than a flywheel storage
>system.

	Greetings. (With all this BS and the confused/stunned/FUBAR folks
	trying their hand at interperting it, I thought I'd add to this mess)

	Ok, say we have a nice big flywheel. Yes, if it fails we get a nice
	big BOOM... lots of heat, plasma, you name it... flying your way.
	Also, you have to contend with the gyroscopic effect that this thing
	will produce in any vehicle that uses it... the magnetic bearings
	better be good, strong - and, as Mr. Murphy is whispering in my
	ear - DAMN reliable... Understood. Fine. Ok.

	So, what can you typical GM engineer do to pass Fed tests
	in the design of a car/auto/bus/whatever that uses this flywheel? 

	Well, first off, it better pass the 5mph crash test without
	vaporizing the prototype & all the observers. This would be a
	Bad Thing(tm). Second, it should have minimal gyro effect on the
	handling of the car - we want this thing to sell. I guess this
	may be partially improved with an array of flywheels instead of
	one MONSTER one. Third, in case the bearings DO fail, what's the
	effect? Well, you COULD mount the thing in a sort of deflector
	dish so that an explosion is not limited to a container but instead
	is rediated AWAY from the occupants - Anyone see that episode of
	the Twilight Zone about some guys that enter suspended animation
	in a cave and wake up in the future with the gold bar they hope
	will be worth a fortune only to kill each other and [MY POINT]
	a couple in a "futuristic" car noting that gold is "so worthless".

	Anyhow, if you saw that episode, take a look at the car. It looks
	very funky because its windows look like reflector dishes... Well,
	how about mounting the flywheel so that when it does [note:not IF]
	blow it blows literally "Sky High". A similar idea is in every 
	military arsenal - I believe it's called a Claymore which is a 
	directional anti-personel mine.

	Fourth, why mess with all these problems when we can just wait
	for that guy [what's his face] to prove that you can get all
	that energy out of copper wire [remember the abstract that was
	posted here?] Well, I figure that both are about as practical.
	Not to start another thread but Golly Gee, imagine what would
	happen if all those trillions of watts from that inch of wire
	were suddenly released all of a sudden? Gosh, can you imagine 
	what would happen if that force failed in the McKenly deflector 
	field generator? Good lord, there goes the town...

	[Ignore me, I'm catching up on sci.electronics after a 2 week
	vacation in the Florida Keys... and driving 24 hours [yawn]]

	Take care :-)

	P.S. What suprises me is that no one out there gets ticked
	off by all this crap and builds a scale model of a flywheel, 
	cranks it up to 5k RPM, releases the magnetic bearings, and 
	reports how many counts of murder they are charged with ;-)

>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Carl J Lydick | INTERnet: CARL@SOL1.GPS.CALTECH.EDU | NSI/HEPnet: SOL1::CARL
>Disclaimer:  Hey, I understand VAXen and VMS.  That's what I get paid for.  My

	P.P.S. No matter how much memory you have, how fast your drive
	subsystem is, or how many CPU's you have, the next version
	of VMS will run slower than the previous did on older hardware.
			- Anonymous pissed VMS administrator 
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DO NOT REPLY HERE. REPLY TO "fmgst+@pitt.edu". THANK YOU. If that doesn't work,
send that e-mail to "fmg@alpha.smi.med.pitt.edu". Proud co-owner of a Jeanie's
Teenie serial# 1: all-Al, 285lb, low-wing, 53 hp, 120 knts, experimental plane!!
Newsgroups: sci.electronics