Hyperloop, redefining high speed ground transportation?, page-33

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jantimot

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19/11/17

10:32

Post #: 28926365
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Originally posted by tristanc ↑

With all due respect, those videos strike me as examples of the perennial “here’s a bunch of engineering challenges, therefore it can’t be done” claims that bedevil every major new technology. At least a few of the claims are just plain wrong or misleading. Videos of people imploding tankers that were designed to hold outward pressure are meaningless distractions when Hyperloop tubes would obviously be explicitly designed to resist inward pressure.

The effects of a major rupture are also vastly overblown in my opinion. Sure, the capsule nearest the rupture would be screwed, but for those further back a 5 g deceleration would bring them from top speed to a complete stop in about 6 seconds. The proposed capsules are aerodynamic and don’t completely block the tunnel, so the pressure wave (no more than that experienced by a supersonic aircraft) would mostly part around the capsule. Further, each capsule would attenuate the pressure. And, of course, the idea of people suffocating in such a situation is ridiculous - the defining feature of such a catastrophic breach is that the tube is now filled with air.

The guy in the first video has completely misunderstood the purpose of the turbines in the original concept - they’re not for pushing the capsules through the tube, they’re for creating an air cushion under the capsule (like an air hockey table). That takes out a few minutes of the first video.

Et cetera, et cetera. I honestly didn’t see anything in those videos that was truly compelling.

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I agree. And similarly those touting the technology understate the engineering challenges.
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