Materials Science

[pezman]

Just had to toss this site in ...

Epieliptical rotary http://deadbeatdad.org/eliptoid/index.htm

[Dang911]

The video of the randcam looked less than promising....

The fact that he had to turn the engine with an electric motor, to get it to shoot a little fire, said there needs to be a lot more development.

[pezman]

Well, it looked like the diesel version. I'm not surprised that a rotary engine has problems generating adequate compression for dieseling.

Not endorsing any of the above ideas or claiming that they're ready for prime-time -- just putting them out there 'cause they seem cool.

It seems like you could adapt the Rand Cam idea to some sort of rotary valved PJ.

[Dang911]

I agree with you on the lack of compression, but if this is for fact, why call it a diesel, and not run it gasoline?

Those engines were all very cool BTW....

[Mark]

Just a tidbit on metal oxides on glass, it is curious how colors are formed. I remember being very interested in colored smoke and how that is done when I was in high school. And one favorite color was making clouds of iodine vapor with zinc dust, NH4NO3, and iodine crystals. It would transition from blue to violet as the cloud cooled. You just have to see it to really understand the beauty. I remember reading another way to make different colored smoke is to just control the temperature or perhaps particle size, which was interesting to me.

"What Is Dichroic Glass?"
"Dichroic Glass" is somewhat of a misnomer, since the dielectric coating that produces all the interesting colors is not glass at all, but a group of very thin layers of metal oxides. This stack of thin layers has a total thickness of three to five millionths of an inch. The layers produce an "interference filter", creating the varied and unique color characteristics we see. "
http://www.nfobase.com/html/dichroic_glass.html
http://cgi.ebay.com/EMERALD-GREEN-COLOR ... dZViewItem

[Mark]

http://abc.go.com/primetime/americaninventor/

[Mark]

The other day my brother was over constructing a 4 X 4 foot steel artificial reef, using my large drill press to drill holes in some angle iron. He uses expanded metal for the sides with large openings for fish to hide in. Anyway, I thought the way expanded metal is made was kind of nifty.
Mark
http://www.metlx.com/process.html

[Mark]

Just a cute little PETE bottle. It would make for a fun gas/fuel tank. It's more eye catching in person than the scan I made of it. But certainly it is orbtasticly ornate, suitable for any small pulsejet enthusiast wanting that special fuel container. 11 fluid ounces or 325mL
Mark

[Mark]

11 ounces or 325 mL

[larry cottrill]

Mark -

Where did you find that cutesy-pie bottle? What sort of beverage was in it?

It looks to me like something that would make an excellent mold for a nosecone shell - plaster it inside or out with epoxy, let cure, and peel away the bottle and discard. But, you're right - the bottle itself would make a neat streamlined fuel tank on a U-control speed model or something. Or, judiciously cut out part of the bottle to form a "bubble canopy" on a semi-scale jet fighter model of appropriate size.

L Cottrill

[Mark]

Someone left it at the library.
Mark

"Ice Mountain brand is introducing stubby little sort-of-spherical -- let's say globular -- 11-ounce bottles that it's calling "Aquapods." They're aimed at kids, sort-of:

Nestlé publicity says "We designed the Aquapod bottle to make drinking water fun and exciting for kids, who love to sip from and show off the cool bubble-shaped bottle." The label on the bottle says "Orbtastic shape/ Charged with fun." Mr. Tidbit says "Harder to hold, even in a full-size hand."

[Mark]

http://www.artsjournal.com/artfulmanage ... 007766.php

[Mark]

http://aquapod.com/default_full.html

[Mark]

http://amasci.com/weird/microwave/voltage2.html

[Mark]

http://tinyurl.com/kkljp
http://tinyurl.com/o8ze9

Just some interesting metal to play with. Maybe you could make a unique putt putt boat using sodium.
Mark