To optimize a trebuchet, focus on maximizing the height from which the weight is dropped, increasing the weight itself, and ensuring the catapult arm is long enough to provide adequate exit speed without being excessively long. Key considerations include the stiffness and lightweight nature of the catapult arm and rope, as well as minimizing gear and belt losses through high coefficients of static friction. Modeling the rope as a perfectly rigid beam is suggested, although this may not be entirely accurate. Effective optimization involves ensuring the trebuchet arm stops dead at the end of its cycle to enhance efficiency and reduce wear on the main beam.
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nbnate said:Can anyone give me advise on how i would optimize a trebuchet? I think i can figure out most of it except what equations should i use for the rope attached to the projectile.
pervect said:There are different forms of "optimization", but probably what you're talking about is to get the arm of the trebuchet to essentially stop dead at the end of the cycle due to the load, so that it doesn't slam into the stops. This both makes the machine more efficient, and saves wear & tear on the main beam.