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self-patching walls for micro-meteors
If one wanted to have a wall between vacuum and .15 Oxygen atm (or 1
atm air if you wish), what material will after a micro-meteor passes through patch itself??? This is rather than the thick wall or shield defense against micro-meteors. 1. With "1 thin metal wall", you get some stretching of metal then puncture with no sealing. Or is this wrong? 2. With "super-stretchable film" might one get long tube of stretched film then puncture, so somehow the tube seals itself either by being flatly pressed against remaining air by pressure or due to self-adhesion?? I know its hard to get stretching due to super-speed of meteor but possible at all?? 3. With film that doesn't stretch but is "multi-layer" film or metal walls lying next to dozens of other layers, if one allowed layers to shift might not the layers post-strike shift to seal and avoid complete path to space??? Layers shouldn't stretch, which would block any shifting. I know hard to imagine layers of material any of which could be pressure wall, but maybe imagine metal tubes inside each other slide on top of each other while heated so later contract and pressurize (this idea is getting complicated...) 4. Is there some goop that could be put in between layers or maybe put in "goop-bags" like bubblewrap that any meteor would go through and thus immediately apply to any puncture, thus sealing it (so don't try to fight meteor with this wall, use thin wall and then patch afterward). Of course goop-bags would block transparent walls. 5. Finally, how about using "floating goo-balls" that would be sucked to hole to space and plug the leak, maybe in splat-ball shells to keep goo-balls from sticking??? Use many floaters or a few big rubber balls, to minimize time? 6. Or is there no such thing as a passive patching option, and "active human or robot patcher" always needed. |
#2
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A.W.R. wrote:
If one wanted to have a wall between vacuum and .15 Oxygen atm (or 1 atm air if you wish), what material will after a micro-meteor passes through patch itself??? This is rather than the thick wall or shield defense against micro-meteors. 1. With "1 thin metal wall", you get some stretching of metal then puncture with no sealing. Or is this wrong? No stretching, it's too fast an event, you just get vapourisation of the metal, and a hole/crater punched, depending on the size. 2. With "super-stretchable film" might one get long tube of stretched film then puncture, so somehow the tube seals itself either by being flatly pressed against remaining air by pressure or due to self-adhesion?? I know its hard to get stretching due to super-speed of meteor but possible at all?? No. Basically, you can't get stretching unless the incoming impulse is several times less than the speed f sound in the material. 3. With film that doesn't stretch but is "multi-layer" film or metal walls lying next to dozens of other layers, if one allowed layers to shift might not the layers post-strike shift to seal and avoid complete path to space??? Layers shouldn't stretch, which would block any shifting. I know hard to imagine layers of material any of which could be pressure wall, but maybe imagine metal tubes inside each other slide on top of each other while heated so later contract and pressurize (this idea is getting complicated...) And sounds heavy. - 4. Is there some goop that could be put in between layers or maybe put in "goop-bags" like bubblewrap that any meteor would go through and thus immediately apply to any puncture, thus sealing it (so don't try to fight meteor with this wall, use thin wall and then patch afterward). Of course goop-bags would block transparent walls. You then have to figure out something that won't leak out of the hole too. 5. Finally, how about using "floating goo-balls" that would be sucked to hole to space and plug the leak, maybe in splat-ball shells to keep goo-balls from sticking??? Use many floaters or a few big rubber balls, to minimize time? This will complicate ventilation - you don't want the balls going into filters, ... You need to insulate the hull. If you don't, you get severe condensation on the inside of the hull, and stuff growing in that moisture, which is bad for several reasons. You need this insulation on the outside anyway, so it's not that big a stretch to add some debris barrier layers. Any sort of floating system means also that you can't bolt anything to walls. |
#3
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"A.W.R." wrote in message oups.com... If one wanted to have a wall between vacuum and .15 Oxygen atm (or 1 atm air if you wish), what material will after a micro-meteor passes through patch itself??? This is rather than the thick wall or shield defense against micro-meteors. 1. With "1 thin metal wall", you get some stretching of metal then puncture with no sealing. Or is this wrong? It's wrong. At the speeds a micrometeorite would hit your wall, you don't get "stretching then puncture", you get an effect that's more like an explosion. 2. With "super-stretchable film" might one get long tube of stretched film then puncture, so somehow the tube seals itself either by being flatly pressed against remaining air by pressure or due to self-adhesion?? I know its hard to get stretching due to super-speed of meteor but possible at all?? I would think this woudn't be possible. 3. With film that doesn't stretch but is "multi-layer" film or metal walls lying next to dozens of other layers, if one allowed layers to shift might not the layers post-strike shift to seal and avoid complete path to space??? Layers shouldn't stretch, which would block any shifting. I know hard to imagine layers of material any of which could be pressure wall, but maybe imagine metal tubes inside each other slide on top of each other while heated so later contract and pressurize (this idea is getting complicated...) This idea is similar to the multi-layered protection already used on spacecraft, but they typically use very high strength fabrics separated by some amount of space. If you're layers are all togehter, the pieces made by the object hitting the first layer don't have time to spread out. You want them to spread out so that the next layer takes the impact over a larger area. You then add as many layers as needed to get the protection desired. If you read a bit about the subject, you'll find that your ideas aren't original and you'll find out why some work and some don't. Jeff -- Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address. |
#4
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We have been in space for nearly fifty years. Over that time how many
objects have been launced and how amy have been severly damaged or destroyed by meteors? One? maybe two? And if there were any, none have been manned craft, which tend to be more robustly built. The danger of collision is extremely small and one has to balnce the potential risk with the cost of avoiding that risk. Some of your passive systems sound interesting. But they would to the weight and will increase both the cost of the craft and its launching. On 30 Jul 2005 19:40:13 -0700, "A.W.R." wrote: If one wanted to have a wall between vacuum and .15 Oxygen atm (or 1 atm air if you wish), what material will after a micro-meteor passes through patch itself??? This is rather than the thick wall or shield defense against micro-meteors. 1. With "1 thin metal wall", you get some stretching of metal then puncture with no sealing. Or is this wrong? 2. With "super-stretchable film" might one get long tube of stretched film then puncture, so somehow the tube seals itself either by being flatly pressed against remaining air by pressure or due to self-adhesion?? I know its hard to get stretching due to super-speed of meteor but possible at all?? 3. With film that doesn't stretch but is "multi-layer" film or metal walls lying next to dozens of other layers, if one allowed layers to shift might not the layers post-strike shift to seal and avoid complete path to space??? Layers shouldn't stretch, which would block any shifting. I know hard to imagine layers of material any of which could be pressure wall, but maybe imagine metal tubes inside each other slide on top of each other while heated so later contract and pressurize (this idea is getting complicated...) 4. Is there some goop that could be put in between layers or maybe put in "goop-bags" like bubblewrap that any meteor would go through and thus immediately apply to any puncture, thus sealing it (so don't try to fight meteor with this wall, use thin wall and then patch afterward). Of course goop-bags would block transparent walls. 5. Finally, how about using "floating goo-balls" that would be sucked to hole to space and plug the leak, maybe in splat-ball shells to keep goo-balls from sticking??? Use many floaters or a few big rubber balls, to minimize time? 6. Or is there no such thing as a passive patching option, and "active human or robot patcher" always needed. |
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