Recent content by Infinitybyzero

This is a hypothetical question: since hydrostatic pressure is calculated as depth of water times its density, would a column of water less than a square foot in cross section still have a pressure at the bottom of depth*density of water? For example, if I had a 1" thick by 1ft wide by 5' tall...

I'm a civil/structural engineer and I was just recently thinking about one of the biggest issues for maximizing the efficiency of a wind turbine - the structure itself. The mega turbines that engineers want already have foundations of titanic proportions because as we all know, flag pole...

I have kinetic energy that has been put into the shaft, say 1000 n*m worth. It spins freely with this energy until a clutch engages it with the spring (and it's shaft). The transfer mechanism isn't important for this conversation. When the spring is engaged, it has characteristic k and deflects...

Assume that when the energy-filled shaft engages the spring, energy transfer is 100% and the spring has enough capacity to safely take that energy. I understand I need to design for k, but I'm looking for a way to basically get k in terms of D and E, if that's even possible (or useful). I've...

Hello, I'm trying to figure out a general physics problem here and I'm trying to relate energy held in a rotating shaft to be dissipated by a torsional spring. Let's say I have energy E (Joules), shaft outer diameter D, and torsional spring capacity T. T is what I'm designing for with all...

I understand what you're saying, but what would you think about this? Could I make a springy enough elastomer hinge to create the range of motion I need (shown below)?

Not quite the right application. Sorry, I'm being intentionally vague because there's a very specific application I'm looking at and might monetize it later. The entire material needs to be flexible, not just two plates attached by an elastomer hinge. While that does solve the issue I'm looking...

Flexible surface cleaner. I know the first thought is "why not just use a cloth or rag"? Well, the rigidity is of paramount importance to my application. If we assume I need a thickness T, could I do two layers of, say 0.4T with a 0.2T elastomer between them, like recommended?

I certainly could, but then it comes down to how thin can I tangibly get the sheet. It could be as thin as 1/32" but I'm not sure. I'm looking for it to be bendable by hand, but not so much that you could easily accidentally bend it too far (hence safely elastic doubled over).

It needs to be very durable and springy. Some forms of sheet metal would probably work, but I don't think that's the type of material I'm looking for. It needs to be able to return to a perfectly flat surface, even after thousands of times bent from flat to the configuration below.

I'm working on making a little gadget for myself and am in need of a material that meets the following criteria: 1) non toxic 2) can double over on itself and return to it's original position* 3) rigid enough to avoid plastic deformation at maximum design deflection* 4) can be obtained in...

With a motorcycle lift, you will have tubes that will experience a variety of stresses, including bending, shear, and even torque, which are all separate design parameters. You might be able to find tables for each individual design parameter, but it will be come frustrating quickly trying to...

The way you're quoting it is very ambiguous. What material? What kind of bonding agent (if masonry)? Is it load bearing? I'm guessing, based off your limited information, is that 2.5m is an architectural constraint due to the relatively tight fit that doorways require. If you start spanning an...

Since deflection is the second integral of moment, you could conceivably find point loads that cause the same maximum moment in each section and it should provide identical maximum deflection.

You can conservatively estimate your deflection in your long center beam as W*L^3/48*E*I, where W is your weight, L is the length of the beam, E is Young's Modulus, and I is the section's moment if inertia. You can solve for I and look up cross sections in a beam table to find this. IF we...