[TheForge] the solid forged aluminium wheels for the supersonic car.

[terry l. ridder]

Hello



Bloodhound: Superwheels for supersonic car go into production
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31845234

<begin quote>
The process of machining the fastest wheels in automotive history has
begun.

The aluminium discs will be fitted to the Bloodhound Supersonic Car,
which will endeavour to break the world land speed record (763mph) later
this year.

Castle Engineering near Glasgow is leading the industrial consortium
that is preparing the wheels.

These 90cm discs are a crucial element of the Bloodhound concept, and
will have to endure huge loads as they spin at over 170 revolutions per
second.

Calculations indicate that at peak speed, the wheels will be generating
50,000 radial g at their rim. That's 50,000 times the pull of gravity.
<end   quote>

Background on "bloodhound"

<begin quote>
Bloodhound SSC will use a Eurofighter jet engine bolted to a rocket to
take it through the sound barrier. The ultimate aim is to push the land
speed record beyond 1,000mph (1,610km/h) in 2016. The attempts will be
made on a specially prepared lake bed in South Africa.

In revolutions per minute (rpm), the wheels will reach a staggering
10,500. An F1 car would "only" do about 2,500rpm. Exactly how fast
Bloodhound's wheels will actually turn, however, is something of an
unknown.

There will come a point when the vehicle is going so quickly that the
discs will not be able to keep up. They will slide. "Rudders" might be a
good description of them at that stage.

Finding a wheel that can cope with the stress of running at 1,000mph
"was my first and hardest piece of homework on Bloodhound," says La
Grue.

Not only do the 91kg discs have to maintain their integrity during rapid
rotation, they must do so while being blasted by small pieces of grit.

The "race track" at Hakskeen Pan in the Northern Cape has been cleared
of all stone debris larger than a pea, but, even so, the top dirt layer
on the lake bed will kick up.

Particles lifted by the front wheels will hit the back ones with the
velocity of a bullet. If there are any imperfections, any cracks, in the
discs - then this assault could trigger a catastrophic failure.

Lockheed Martin UK and Innoval Technology led the early research and
design work on the wheels.
Early
<end   quote>

-- 
terry l. ridder ><>