|
Momentum Curtain
Discovered by British engineer Christopher Cockerell, the momentum curtain is a unique and efficient way to reduce friction between a vehicle and its surface of travel, be it water or land, by levitating the vehicle above this surface via a cushion of air. It is this principle of levitation upon which a hovercraft is based, and Christopher Cockerell set about applying his momentum curtain theory to hovercraft to increase their abilities in overcoming friction in travel. Levitating a vehicle above the ground/water to reduce its drag was not a new concept. John Thornycroft, in 1877, discovered that trapping air beneath a ship's hull, or pumping air beneath it with bellows, decreased the effects of friction upon the hull thereby increasing the ship's top attainable speeds.Discovery Channel: Ultimate Hovercraft However, technology at the time was insufficient for Thornycroft's ideas to be developed further. Cockerell used the idea of pumped air under a hull (this then becoming a ple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Cockerell
Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE RDI FRS (4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft. Early life and education Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cockerell, was curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum, having previously been the secretary of William Morris. His mother was the illustrator and designer Florence Kingsford Cockerell. Christopher attended the preparatory school of St Faith's. Christopher was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, Norfolk. He matriculated at Peterhouse, Cambridge to read mechanical engineering. He later returned to Cambridge to study radio and electronics. Early career He began his career working for W. H. Allen & Sons of Bedford. After returning to the University of Cambridge in 1934 to study radio and electronics, he went to work at the Radio Research Company. In 1935, he went to work at the Marconi Company, and soon afterwards he married Margaret Elinor Belsham (4 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friction
Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of two solid surfaces in contact. Dry friction is subdivided into ''static friction'' ("stiction") between non-moving surfaces, and ''kinetic friction'' between moving surfaces. With the exception of atomic or molecular friction, dry friction generally arises from the interaction of surface features, known as asperities (see Figure 1). *Fluid friction describes the friction between layers of a viscous fluid that are moving relative to each other. *Lubricated friction is a case of fluid friction where a lubricant fluid separates two solid surfaces. *Skin friction is a component of drag, the force resisting the motion of a fluid across the surface of a body. *Internal friction is the force resisting motion between the elements making up a so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hovercraft
A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. The pressure difference between the higher pressure air below the hull and lower pressure ambient air above it produces lift, which causes the hull to float above the running surface. For stability reasons, the air is typically blown through slots or holes around the outside of a disk- or oval-shaped platform, giving most hovercraft a characteristic rounded-rectangle shape. The first practical design for hovercraft was derived from a British invention in the 1950s. They are now used throughout the world as specialised transports in disaster relief, coastguard, military and survey applications, as well as for sport or passenger service. Very large versions have been used to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Isaac Thornycroft
Sir John Isaac Thornycroft (1 February 1843 – 28 June 1928) was an English shipbuilder, the founder of the Thornycroft shipbuilding company and member of the Thornycroft family. Early life He was born in 1843 to Mary Francis and Thomas Thornycroft. He attended the Regent Street Polytechnic and then the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at South Kensington and at the same time, he began building the steam launch ''Nautilus'' in his father's study. ''Nautilus'' was a fast boat with a reliable engine (also built by Thornycroft), and in 1862 it proved to be the first steam launch with enough speed to follow the contenders in the University race. The ensuing publicity prompted his father to purchase a strip of land along the Thames, adjacent to Chesterman's yard at Chiswick in 1864, and that became the start of John Thornycroft's shipbuilding career. In 1866 Thornycroft took over Chesterman's yard completely, and John I. Thornycroft & Company was f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bellows
A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtight cavity which can be expanded and contracted by operating the handles, and fitted with a valve allowing air to fill the cavity when expanded, and with a tube through which the air is forced out in a stream when the cavity is compressed. xford English Dictionary, 2nd ed: bellows/ref> It has many applications, in particular blowing on a fire to supply it with air. The term "bellows" is used by extension for a flexible bag whose volume can be changed by compression or expansion, but not used to deliver air. For example, the light-tight (but not airtight) bag allowing the distance between the lens and film of a folding photographic camera to be varied is called a bellows. Etymology "Bellows" is only used in plural. The Old English name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Plenum Vs Momentum Curtain
Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YFriday album), 2001 * ''Open'' (Shaznay Lewis album), 2004 * ''Open'' (Jon Anderson EP), 2011 * ''Open'' (Stick Men album), 2012 * ''Open'' (The Necks album), 2013 * ''Open'', a 1967 album by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity * ''Open'', a 1979 album by Steve Hillage * "Open" (Queensrÿche song) * "Open" (Mýa song) * "Open", the first song on The Cure album ''Wish'' Literature * ''Open'' (Mexican magazine), a lifestyle Mexican publication * ''Open'' (Indian magazine), an Indian weekly English language magazine featuring current affairs * ''OPEN'' (North Dakota magazine), an out-of-print magazine that was printed in the Fargo, North Dakota area of the U.S. * Open: An Autobiography, Andre Agassi's 2009 memoir Computin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plenum Chamber
A plenum chamber is a pressurised housing containing a fluid (typically air) at positive pressure. One of its functions is to equalise pressure for more even distribution, compensating for irregular supply or demand. It is typically relatively large in volume and thus has relatively low velocity compared to the system's other components. In wind tunnels, rockets, and many flow applications, it is a chamber upstream on the fluid flow where the fluid initially resides (approximately at rest). It can also work as an acoustic silencer. Examples of plenum chambers include those used with: * Superchargers * Hovercraft * Corliss steam engines * Raised floors and false ceilings in equipment rooms * Some organs (to supplement the bellows) * A number of aerophones, such as the bag of bagpipes and the ''slow air chamber'' of the Native American flute * Plenum chamber anesthetic vaporizers * Rocket motor combustion chambers, which may have a section near the nozzle that is free of the prop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vacuum
A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often discuss ideal test results that would occur in a ''perfect'' vacuum, which they sometimes simply call "vacuum" or free space, and use the term partial vacuum to refer to an actual imperfect vacuum as one might have in a laboratory or in space. In engineering and applied physics on the other hand, vacuum refers to any space in which the pressure is considerably lower than atmospheric pressure. The Latin term ''in vacuo'' is used to describe an object that is surrounded by a vacuum. The ''quality'' of a partial vacuum refers to how closely it approaches a perfect vacuum. Other things equal, lower gas pressure means higher-quality vacuum. For example, a typical vacuum cleaner produces enough suction to reduce air pressure by around 20%. But hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SR-N1
The Saunders-Roe SR.N1 (Saunders-Roe Nautical 1) was the first practical hovercraft. The concept has its origins in the work of British engineer and inventor Christopher Cockerell, who succeeded in convincing figures within the services and industry, including those within British manufacturer Saunders-Roe. Research was at one point supported by the Ministry of Defence; this was later provided by the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), who had seen the potential posed by such a craft. In order to test the theories and overall concept, it was decided that a full-scale craft would be constructed, designated as the SR.N1. On 11 June 1959, it performed its first flight in front of the public. The SR.N1 participated in the test programme for four years prior to its retirement, by which point it had served its purpose in successfully validating the concept and further hovercraft had been developed. In less than four years following the SR.N1's maiden flight, multiple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.svg "Click for more on -> Bellows")
