Seminar Presentation Report #2

Nguyen Nguyen

Dr. Ajit Patki

Submission Date: November 7th, 2019

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 Table of Contents

Abstract 3
Introduction 3
Discussion 4
Conclusion 7
Reference 8

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Abstract:

In this presentation, Hyperloop is under studied with importance on revolutionizing civil

transportation. Mechanisms of the Hyperloop system are analyzed and interpreted under

technical viewpoint. Hyperloop is considered the future of transportation for human being with

maximum speed could reach up to 1200 kilometers per hour with many potentials. This project is

still on progress of being actualized with funding from many organizations and constructions

being built. With this presentation, students will learn how a system of Hyperloop could manage

to break the limit of many physics’ law and why the world is promoting on developing this kind

of traffic system.

Introduction:

Traffic jams and travelling time are always concerns that people need to worry about.

However, there is a way to reduce the chance of these issues with a new kind of transportation,

Hyperloop. This idea appeared in the year of 1970s, but it was not feasible back then due to

physics and technology constraints that made this project too expensive and impossible.

Recently, Elon Musk- the founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors published the documents of

Hyperloop Alpha in 2012 that attracted many investors to start on designing this type of

transportation. Basically, the idea of Hyperloop is the capsule moving in the system of low-

pressure tube that connect many cities together. According to Elon Musk, Hyperloop could reach

to 1200 km/h, twice as fast as airplane. This make travelling become easier and faster than any

other common transportation right now. In another way, it’s the combination of Concorde

supersonic turbojet, air hockey, and electromagnetic rail gun and potentially the transportation of

future.

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Discussions:

Tubing system

Hyperloop tube is usually made from steel with low pressure air inside. The reason to

have low pressure is to lower resistance force. Since force is equal pressure times area, we must

lower the pressure as the contact area is impossible to change. Ideally, vacuum would be

preferred but it is expensive to create a complete vacuum for a long distance, so pressure is lower

to about 100 Pa. This will create a problem in pressure difference between inside and outside the

tube. Therefore, the tube’s material is steel to withstand with force in a long time. The thickness

of the tube is estimated about 20-25 mm with radius about 2.23 m. Plus, there will be 2 parallel

tubes for round trip. In fact, Elon Musk said this system will be useful on the Moon since its

atmospheric pressure is only as 1% of the one on Earth, so there will be no need for the tube

system. In addition, the tube will be stabilized by the concrete columns with 6m height and 30

meters spacing. The durability of concrete could endure through factors like atmospheric

pressure, weight of the tube, wind, earthquake, etc. There will be also suspension system in

between the tube and the columns to reduce impacts from the ground to the tube

Motor

Figure 1: Linear induction motor

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 This device is used to accelerate and decelerate the train while it is moving. Hyperloop

uses linear induction motor. This is a rotary motor that has been cut and unrolled to generate

linear motion. Result from this, the Lorentz force generated from the linear induction motor is

the thrust on rotor in linear direction not rotation. To increase the efficiency, using

superconducting magnet would increase the efficiency of the motor, by cooling down the magnet

with helium or liquid nitrogen, to reduce resistance to 0

Figure 2: Halbach array arrangement

Another thing is magnetic field, Hyperloop could “slide” on the air thanks to the magnetic field.

With Halbach array arrangement in Figure 1, the magnetic field will change 90 degrees to

enhance magnetic field on one side (x2 in ideal condition) and reduce the magnetic field on the

other side to 0. This will help levitate the capsule and reduce contact friction with the rail.

Computational fluid dynamics

Most of designs of Hyperloop have nose shape for the head which similar to the

Shinkansen of Japan. There is a fluid dynamics purpose behind this. As common sense, the

pressure reaches maximum value when the contact area suddenly changes with front glass area.

However, low pressure and small area are desired, so this issue should not be presented in the

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design. In the other hand, on the back, the presence of flow detachment also creates turbulence

has a chance to create a reverse force toward the direction of the moving car. That is the reason

why the head for Hyperloop has small windshield area and the head/back tilt angle needs to be

large to decrease the sudden change in area. As the streamline half-body has the lowest drag

coefficient from out of all the shapes, Hyperloop is design based off form this to reduce air

resistance and reach maximum speed.

Air system

Figure 3: Air system inside Hyperloop

Air system is significantly related to the Kantrowitz’s limit. This limit shows the

maximum speed every object could reach in the tube before the air inside get compressed to the

point that block the object from moving. This is similar to what happens with a compressed

pistol. This causes a huge challenge on speed limit of Hyperloop when operating. An engineer

needs to come up with a solution to reduce air resistance on the head of the train. As air

resistance is proportional to pressure, so reducing air pressure is the first thing to be considered.

To solve for this, Elon proposed to install a fan in front of the capsule to suck air in the front to

transfer to the back. This will create a continuous air stream throughout the tube and stop the air

from being compressed that break the Kantrowitz’s limit. The fan also has another function to

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compress air inside the capsule to move back to air bearing or air caster module to lift off the

capsule. This will help the Hyperloop flow on the air and reduce friction as air hockey table

system.

Solar panel

Figure 4: Solar panel setup

As the Sun supplies an amount of energy 10000x larger than the amount needed for

human being. Outside the tube will be installed with solar panel to generate electric for the motor

and the system inside. This system will supply energy for the whole Hyperloop system and also

meet the goal of sustainability.

Conclusions:

In conclusion, Hyperloop is a really promising transportation in the future with many

innovations such as high speed, low cost for passenger, pollution free, immune to weather, self-

powering, safe, noise pollution free. There are a few disadvantages with this product such as the

cost of installing, limitation in destination, etc. However, the advantages are still dominant and

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attracted for many investors and governments. Construction permits for Hyperloop system filed

in California in 2015 and many countries also agreed to sign contracts to develop Hyperloop

system. Hopefully, this transportation could be available as expected in 2020 for daily use.

References:

[1] J.N. Astoveza, Precipitation Hardening of Aluminum Alloys. Retrieved from