The flat engine

steve · Post by **steve** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:41 pm

I have seen some of the pictures of engines built with square and even triangular cross sections but I would like to propose an even easier to build version in the spirit of the square thrust rectifier. the picture explains it better then I can but basically it would be two strips of metal in the modified shape of whatever engine you are building, sandwhiched between two flat pieces. The result is something that can almost be built quicker then a kazoo and can be shaped with a pair of pliers. obviously this would not be practical with large engines as the flat top and bottom might buckle, but for an engine like the KP-t 01b (that I love so very, very much) it would be perfect. my only concern is that the angles in the combustion chamber might be a little extreme, but if a kazoo can run...
If you guys think it will work I will build one (answer quickly because school ends in two weeks and then I loose access to my welding equiptment for the summer <insert hysterical crying here>)

larry cottrill · Post by **larry cottrill** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 1:58 am

Steve -

I once proposed something like that on the old forums [I didn't draw it up, however] as the world's loudest outdoor cooking grille. I think it was Mark 'Thixis' who suggested sloping it toward the intake slightly and channeling the top surface so that the propane fuel could be phased out in favor of running it on meat drippings as you cook your steak. One of us then christened it the 'Cottrill Greasodyne'.

L Cottrill

Post by **Mike Everman** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 3:41 am

Steve-
I am very fond of rectangular sections, and my early posts were full of them. I intend to get back there some day, and would like to make what you've drawn, but with movable sidewalls and a pyrex window. Grab some high speed video of the internal function; what fun!

larry cottrill · Post by **larry cottrill** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 1:32 pm

Mike Everman wrote:Steve-
I am very fond of rectangular sections, and my early posts were full of them. I intend to get back there some day, and would like to make what you've drawn, but with movable sidewalls and a pyrex window. Grab some high speed video of the internal function; what fun!

In the old forums I proposed a way of using fused quartz optical flats for the two sides, carefully cushioned at the edges to allow for thermal expansion of the metal walls. With such a setup, you could then use a Sclieren system illuminated with an adjustable strobe to view the internal action of the engine in slow motion.

Ben Brockert and I were both heavily interested in Schlieren examination of pulsejets, and actually tried it at the tail end of my Dynajet, using my old 8-inch telescope mirror, but we did not have a strobe to sync up with the jet, so all we observed was pure chaos. Ben went on to do some interesting Schlieren experiments with two-color filters in place of the usual knife-edge, but I only got to see a few examples.

L Cottrill