This is my vision of a bigger scale model;
http://www.cs.umu.se/~fys98mrn/napkin_design2.bmp It pumps water from behind it through an internal pipe stuffed with heating elements and a turbine, and then then the water is ejected out the front through a directional "nozzle". My idea for a nozzle is a sphere with a hole through it. By rotating the sphere, the jet changes direction. Another possible design is using something like modern jets use to direct their exhausts, but I think that design is even more vulnerable. It's Teflon coated both on the outside skin and on the skin of the internal pipe. Does the skin need heating for the tests? Won't the warm water flowing around it be sufficient? And where should the turbine be placed? In the front or in the rear? Or perhaps there should be two smaller turbines (improved safety?) I placed the batteries as far to the front as possible, since they'll probably be quite heavy, and the CM should be as far to the front as possible? Could motorcycle batteries be used for the model? I've been considering the pro's and con's of this design, and these are the ones I've thought of; Pro's * Water flowing all around it, preventing it from freezing. * Lots of space in internal pipe to add turbines and heating elements. * Wide internal pipe gives slow flow, giving more time for heating elements to work. The narrowing on the pipe before the "nozzle" increases speed of water, making water jet more effective. * Single nozzle, no fuzz. * ...add your own comments here... Con's * Turbines are vulnerable to debris (perhaps simpler propellers will be sufficient? * A bit complex to build. * Turbines will have to be shut down in order to release any transponders. Otherwise there´s a high risk of having transponders being sucked down the pipe and into the turbines. Shutdown periods should be kept to a minimum to minimize risk of freezing. * Nozzle design is a bit vulnerable to debris getting in on its sides and jamming it. Will the water jets be able to keep it clean? Will there be eddies that trap debris around the nozzle, increasing the risk of jamming it? * The model needs water all around it to function, thus it need some help getting down into the ice before it can work properly. This might envolve drilling, dropping down the model into the hole and then filling up the hole with antifreeze. * ...add your own comments here... /Marcus Ps. I´m a university student at Umeċ, Sweden, so I guess I won´t be able to do any hands on work on the models. == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
