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We continue the series of short scientific educational films about the monograph by Anatoly Yunitskiy "String Transport Systems: on Earth and in Space".

From the second sequel you'll learn about the types of SkyWay track structures, their design features, options of design, performance characteristics and spheres of their practical application.

Translation of the video:

Today we will start talking about the 2^nd сhapter of the monograph by Anatoly Yunitskiy "String Transport Systems: on Earth and in Space" that deals with design features of different types of string transport. In the beginning of the сhapter its basic scheme is described.

String transport system is a structure having a large length reaching thousands of kilometers. The features of such system (reliability, durability, maximum speed, low cost of construction and operation, etc.) will depend not only on the design of its individual elements, but also on their linear layout for different sections of the route, for example: plain, mountain and sea.

String track structure is arranged on supports and can be divided into three specific types: intermediate (or supporting), anchor-type, and in some cases - a braking one. They are installed accordingly with a span of 10 m to 7 km at the present level of SkyWay technology development, and theoretically - up to 10 km. The distance between supports depends on the construction technology, terrain, materials used, operating conditions, mass and design speed of the transport module, string tension force and other factors. SkyWay allows to pass such distances with one span.

Thus, it can overcome deep gorges, straits, distance between an island and the mainland, between the peaks of neighboring mountains and other obstacles. The parabolic deflection of the track structure under the action of gravity forces is negligible. It allows to fit it smoothly into the longitudinal profile of the track.

At a sea section, SkyWay route can be arranged in an underwater tube/tunnel made with zero buoyancy and located at a great depth in order to bypass powerful sea currents. The impact of devastating storms is also excluded at such depth. At key areas of high-speed SkyWay, the track structure has no sagging, because the static deflection of the string is "hidden" inside the rail. The load from the weight of the track structure and transport module is transferred to the string by means of the filler (for example, it may be concrete, as it is applied at EcoTechnoPark), the height of which varies from zero over the support to a maximum value at the middle of the span. Therefore, the head or the rail surface, on which the wheels of transport modules roll, has a smooth surface in static condition, without deflections and joints. One of the design options is a string truss used in EcoTechnoPark.

To optimize the cost of construction of urban and suburban string transport, it is possible to calculate a small sagging of the track structure, without deteriorating comfort of movement.

It is also possible to apply such a design of the rail, in which the working surface is a wavy line. Its shape is a mirrored reflection of a relatively straight line with a dynamic deflection in a track structure at the moment of transport module passing. As a result, the span structure gets lower and becomes a straight-line trajectory at each moment of the module motion.

The string track structure can be assembled with a various number of rail-strings: from one to four and more. Moreover, the rails can be spatially fixed in a horizontal or vertical plane or create a triangle or a quadrilateral shape in cross-section. Each of these schemes has its advantages and disadvantages. Critics of SkyWay, frightened by the absence of sleepers, can be consoled with the info also contained in the 2^nd chapter: stability of the track size at the entire route distance is provided by cross-bars that fulfill their functions. Since the cross-bars, unlike the sleepers, do not transfer the load from moving rolling stock to the basis, they can be installed considerably less frequently - in 5 or even 50 m.

Then the chapter discusses in detail the following issues: string rail and supports that we have already commented on in the first video of this series, as well as rolling stock and construction technology that will be explained in the next release.