A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Space Science » Technology
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

shaped charges for launch



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old July 31st 05, 04:40 AM
A.W.R.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default shaped charges for launch


Shaped charges using normal explosive via explosions perpendicular not
behind path of travel "fingers on watermellon seed" squirt a molten
bunch of formerly solid materials to 6 - 10 km/s. Not efficient I
think, but maybe benefits make it worth it.

1. Any way to have this on repeating system, so maybe methane powered
cannon (like Gerald Bull's supergun, which is another issue, so maybe
this issue already covered so ignore), thus maybe squirting molten
metal or even water in solid stream across solar system to wherever
needed? Not an accurate sytem, but moon with its gravity well is big
target, maybe terraform it by dumping 10 meters of water over surface.
Sorry to raise crazy idea, just is a novel and working method of launch
maybe worth exploring.

  #2  
Old August 2nd 05, 12:44 PM
Ian Stirling
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

A.W.R. wrote:

Shaped charges using normal explosive via explosions perpendicular not
behind path of travel "fingers on watermellon seed" squirt a molten
bunch of formerly solid materials to 6 - 10 km/s. Not efficient I
think, but maybe benefits make it worth it.

Nope.

Several problems.
The control is very poor, and will only give approximate direction.
The accelleration is rather high, so you can only put in basically bulk
materials.
What you shoot has to be very strong, and temperature resistant.
It's a very inefficient way of launching - you use far more mass of
explosive than you'd use rocket propellant.
You can't shoot anything through atmosphere at these speeds (well,
nothing smaller than many tens of meters in size), so you need to launch
all the explosive into orbit first.
In balance, it's not worth it, as it much heavier, and much less flexible
than rockets.
  #3  
Old August 7th 05, 07:48 PM
Jonathan Sivier
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

A.W.R. wrote:

Shaped charges using normal explosive via explosions perpendicular not
behind path of travel "fingers on watermellon seed" squirt a molten
bunch of formerly solid materials to 6 - 10 km/s. Not efficient I
think, but maybe benefits make it worth it.


Check out Project Orion. This sounds very similar to what they intended to
do, only they were going to use atomic bombs for the shaped charges. Whether or
not there would be any use to trying with conventional explosives I don't know.

Jonathan
-----
Jonathan Sivier
Beckman Institute Flight Simulation Lab
jsivier AT uiuc DOT edu
Home Page: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/jsivier/www/

  #4  
Old August 7th 05, 10:05 PM
bombardmentforce
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"In the mid-80s I heard of a "Project Thunderwell" from someone who had
been employed at Livermore. In about 1991, I asked Dr. Lowell Wood
about it, who was (and presumably still is) a prominent weapon
physicist at Livermore. He told me that it was a project, never
actually constructed, to launch a spacecraft on a column of
nuclear-heated steam. The idea was that a deep shaft would be dug in
the earth and filled with water. A spacecraft would be placed atop this
shaft, and a nuclear explosive would be detonated at the bottom." -
Carl Feynman

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Plumbob.html

  #5  
Old September 4th 05, 07:14 PM
Andrew Higgins
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

A.W.R. wrote:

Shaped charges using normal explosive via explosions perpendicular not
behind path of travel "fingers on watermellon seed" squirt a molten
bunch of formerly solid materials to 6 - 10 km/s. Not efficient I
think, but maybe benefits make it worth it.


Shaped charges (or, in particular, "retarded shaped charges") are a
standard technique used to simulate orbital debris in laboratory tests.

It is a very effective way to create a spray of 10-12 km/s metal
particles. Do a search on "shaped charge" and "hypervelocity impact"
and you will find lots of examples.


thus maybe squirting molten
metal or even water in solid stream across solar system to wherever
needed? Not an accurate sytem, but moon with its gravity well is big
target, maybe terraform it by dumping 10 meters of water over surface.
Sorry to raise crazy idea, just is a novel and working method of launch
maybe worth exploring.


Fritz Zwiky may have done just that (spray a shaped-charge jet into
solar orbit from atop of an Aerobee sounding rocket) in 1958:

http://utenti.lycos.it/paoloulivi/aerobee.html
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/pubs/be...1-1-maurer.pdf
--
Andrew J. Higgins Mechanical Engineering Dept.
Associate Professor McGill University
Shock Wave Physics Group Montreal, Quebec CANADA
http://www.mcgill.ca/mecheng/staff/academic/higgins/

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
If the universe is shaped like a cone why does the sky look round? Martin Gradwell Misc 2 May 13th 04 12:16 PM
If the universe is shaped like a cone why does the sky lookround? F. Kuik Astronomy Misc 0 April 22nd 04 12:36 AM
Half Donut Shaped feature - Sol54 Spirit Microscope Brian C Science 4 February 29th 04 04:42 AM
Charges Dropped Against Student Accused Of Stealing Shuttle Debris Rusty B Space Shuttle 1 February 24th 04 10:59 AM
Biggest Star in Our Galaxy Sits within a Rugby-Ball Shaped Cocoon(Forwarded) Andrew Yee Astronomy Misc 0 November 27th 03 11:11 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:04 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.