UST: News

String transport systems: a general concept as the alternative to the existing modes of transport

SkyWay news service starts a series of short scientific educational films about the monographs "String Transport Systems: on Earth and in Space" of the inventor, engineer and scientist Anatoly Yunitskiy. In the monograph SkyWay author elaborates in detail the theory, development status, research results of high-speed ground transport, the movement of which is performed on a string track structure, and non-rocket General Planetary Vehicle (GPV).

The main task of these films is to explain the basic technological principles lying in the innovation of Anatoly Yunitskiy's transport system to the audience in the most simple, comprehensible and informative form.

We will talk in the debut release about the general concept of string transport systems that are considered by the monograph's author as the alternative to the existing modes of transport.

Translation of the video:

We have prepared for you a series of short scientific educational films about the monograph by Anatoly Yunitskiy "String transport systems: on Earth and in space." In the opening video, we consider its first chapter "General concept of String transport systems as an alternative to the existing modes of transport".

The basis of any transport system is the main way, on which transport modules run. As a rule, it is very material-intensive (road or roadbed, rail track, bridges, tunnels, etc.), and its cost determines the cost of the entire system. It is therefore extremely important, how effectively the physical and mechanical properties of materials and structures of transport infrastructure are used.

Of the four types of stress-strained conditions of materials - tension, compression, bending, twisting, - the most favorable is tension in terms of the most complete use of physical and mechanical properties of materials. This can be illustrated by the following example. A 500-meter long cable operating in tension and carrying a load of 100 tons, the Ostankino TV tower operating in compression, and a motor-road bridge with a 500-meter span in curved condition have approximately the same length and are designed for approximately the same payload.

However, the material intensity of a structure with a wire rope operating in tension is by thousands of times lower, as the cable has a diameter much less than 10 centimeters, while a bridge with such a span, a tower and a TV tower have much more than 10 meters in diameter.

The movement of SkyWay rolling stock goes on a track structure that is based on string rails produced in a special way. Strings are composed of separate wires or strips of heavy-duty material (steel or some composites) that are stretched with a force of several hundred tons (this is also a variant of a string).

They are placed inside the body of the rail filled with a special concrete mix or mortar. They are supported by lightweight or intermediate supports with a typical height of 5 to 50 meters, possibly higher, installed at a distance of 20 to 100 meters from each other. Of course, there may be options here, too.

When using new composite materials, the span length at a flexible track structure can reach 7 km. Electricity is supplied to a transport module through a steel wheel, which is in contact with the railhead. You can see it here. Sometimes the rail body performs the function of the head, like in this or that cases.

Additionally, there is a freedom of choice - for example, it may be supplied from the battery (this variant is now used in SkyWay EcoTechnoPark) or power supply from the contact network. Despite the low material intensity, such track structure will be no less rigid than massive automobile and rail bridges, as under the action of workload, i.e. moving rolling stock, its deflection will be less than 1/1,000 of the span length.

Then the first chapter describes the advantages of the string transport over competitors in aсtually all the criteria:

environmental friendliness;

high traffic capacity;

resource intensity and unit cost of construction;

economical efficiency;

ease of operation, control and implementation;

comfort and safety of travel;

all-weather operation;

multi-purpose use and durability.

And the most interesting (attention now!) - Anatoly Yunitskiy substantiates the idea of movement in a vacuum tube, which has now become widely known in the interpretation of Elon Musk under the name Hyperloop!

The real science is always relevant! It should be noted that the monograph was written 30 years ago and was published 7 years later.

Quote: "At speeds over 200 m/sec (or 720 km/h) the transport system should be placed in a special tube with a diameter of 2-3 meters, from which the air is pumped out. The tube can be arranged both above and below the ground, and under water at depths of 10-100 meters, so as not to interfere with navigation and not to be subjected to the destructive acts of nature."

According to Yunitskiy, this "allows to reach speeds of 1,000 km/hour in future by using a vacuum tunnel of small diameter (about 2.5 m) with magnetic suspension systems and a linear electric motor.