HYPERLOOP
I. STEEL
One of the most often used low carbon steels is SAE AISI 1018. Carburized steel, Because the majority of 1018 carbon steel is made by cold drawing, this cold rolled steel is referred to as C1018 (1018 cold rolled steel). Weldability, surface hardening quality, mechanical qualities, and machinability are all advantages of AISI C1018 steel (1018 CRS). Cold drawing improves tensile, yield, torsional, surface hardness, and wear resistance while reducing ductility.
1018 HR is an ASTM AISI SAE 1018 hot rolled steel with good toughness, strength, ductility, formability, weldability, and workability.
II. CONCRETE
A. Hyperloop Concrete Structure and Tubes
Hyperloop tubes must be sturdy, stiff, resilient, and airtight. The shape and size of the tubes are currently made of concrete and steel, however an alternate tube design in concrete (ultrahigh performance steel fibre reinforced concrete) UHPFRC is also being studied. The hyperloop’s structure is made up of huge concrete tubes. These tubes will mostly be erected on pylons, with some ground level and underground pieces thrown in for good measure.
B. Properties of Hyperloop Concrete
- The tubes has condition similar to a vaccum.
- It almost eliminates air resistance.
- During moment, the pod levitates which in turn reduces the force of friction.
- As it moves faster, because of straight tubes.
IV. CARBON FIBRES
Carbon fibres are of five to 10 micrometres in diameter
They Are Mostly Made Of Carbon Atoms
It was first founded in 1860 by Joseph swan
It was used in light bulbs
Its chemical formula is C60
B. Properties
- High strength to weight ratio
- Corrosion Resistant And Chemically Stable
- Good fatigue resistance
- Electrically conductive in nature
- Very rigid in nature
- Low coefficient of thermal expansion
- Good Thermal conductivity
V. VIBRANIUM
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has claimed that it would use a new form of sensor-embedded carbon fibre in its capsules to make them capable of transporting passengers through a practically airless tube at speeds of up to 760 mph in a manner that is safer than ever before. The new substance is known as vibranium by the business. Anyone who has even a rudimentary understanding of Marvel Comics may recognise this name.
A. Advantages
- It is stronger than steel and 1/3 of its weight
- It is completely vibration and sound absorbent which means that it makes no sound even during any impact with an obstacle
- It conducts electricity
- It has magnetic properties
- It is wind assistant
- It deflects kinetic energy
No natural material can have those qualities in the actual world. According to Drexel University’s leading professors, sophisticated nanoparticles can be used to achieve various vibranium qualities while creating materials structures. For example, using sophisticated ceramic materials like boron carbide for lightweight armour or using fisoelectric materials that can convert vibrations into power. Some of the traits are visible in materials (with more than one element to form alloys or compounds), according to Ravichandran, a professor of chemical engineering, but not to the same extent as in vibranium. He cites visco elastic materials as an example, claiming that while they are good at absorbing sound, they aren’t stiff enough to perform like vibranium. Other materials may be more impact resistant, however
So vibranium just exhibits the best properties of all materials .
CARBON FİBER COMPOSITES
With the lightweight needs [of the Hyperloop], the solution will be composites,”TUM Hyperloop constructed its pod using carbon fiber prepregs from SGL Carbon (Wiesbaden, Germany). Based on design and material optimizations, the carbon fiber shell of the current pod weighs around 10% less than that of the team’s previous model (5.6 kilograms compared to 6.1 kilograms).
Swissloop’s second-place pod — the Claude Nicollier, named after the first Swiss astronaut — is run by a linear induction motor that itself prompted an innovation award from SpaceX. The pod’s chassis comprises carbon fiber, resulting in a total weight of only 200 kilograms.
EPFLoop’s prototype, the Bella Lui, features a U-shaped carbon fiber skeleton with the motor on the inside and battery packs on the outside. A small pressurized chamber on top of the pod protects the electronic components and the entire pod is covered in a carbon fiber skin. According to team leader Lorenzo Benedetti, EPFLoop used biaxial prepregs XC411 and RC200 from Gurit (Wattwil, Switzerland), as well as the company’s M80 and M200 foam cores.
Delft Hyperloop ’s Atlas 02 pod comprises a full composite chassis and carbon fiber battery case. The vehicle was manufactured with automated tape laying (ATL) technology and support from Airborne (The Hague, Netherlands) using Toray Advanced Composites’ uni-directional carbon fiber epoxy-based prepregs.
VHO’s test pod, the XP-1, is constructed of a structural aluminum chassis surrounded by a carbon fiber shell. The test vehicle, which is not designed for passenger use, has achieved speeds of up to 240 mph on VHO’s 500-meter test track, known as DevLoop (Las Vegas, Nev., U.S.).
HyperloopTT boasts the first full-scale Hyperloop passenger vessel. The pod, Quintero One, is constructed almost completely out of a composite material HyperloopTT calls Vibranium (a nod to the fictional material conceived by Marvel Comics for Captain America’s iconic shield). The material is, in fact, a specially made dual-layer smart composite material created using carbon fiber and embedded sensors. HyperloopTT’s 32-meter-long capsule is made up of 82 carbon fiber composite panels. It was built at the aerospace facilities of HyperloopTT’s partner Airtificial (Madrid, Spain), a company that specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of sensor-enabled structures made of composite materials. Airtificial was formed by the merger of Carbures (El Puerto de Santa María, Spain), a composite structures manufacturer for the transportation and infrastructure sectors, and civil engineering company Inypsa (Madrid, Spain) in 2018.
Hyperloop infrastructure
In addition to the pods, there is also potential for composites use in the Hyperloop tubes themselves. Composites are, of course, lighter than traditional materials but still able to meet structural requirements, but they are also less susceptible to the elements. While weather conditions could potentially compromise the structural integrity of a steel or concrete tube over a period of time, a composite tube is less likely to suffer problems caused by thermal expansion or corrosion. Many of the existing Hyperloop test tracks have, for the most part, been built of either steel or concrete, but there are companies exploring the use of advanced materials.
HyperloopTT’s tubes, like its passenger capsule, are manufactured by Airtificial and are a combination of steel, concrete and sensor-embedded carbon fiber. In 2018, Airtificial signed a contract for €19.9 million with HyperloopTT to manufacture a 5-kilometer pilot section of Hyperloop tube. Tube manufacturing and installation will be done after completion of analysis of tube prototypes installed at HyperloopTT’s research facilities in Toulouse, France.
Meanwhile, Delft Hyperloop and Jules Dock (Rotterdam, Netherlands), a developer and manufacturer of a range of composite products, are collaborating on research for composite tubes based on a concept Jules Dock is working on for offshore wind turbine towers manufactured via continuous filament winding (CFW). Delft Hyperloop and Jules Dock stated on the blog Hyperloop Connected that filament winding might enable pop-up factories to produce the composite tubes on-site as Hyperloop routes are built.
Commercial Hyperloop
While development of test pods and tracks is underway, Hyperloop companies are working with governments, partners and investors to drum up funding and support for proposed routes in the U.S. and around the world.
VHO plans to begin work in December 2019 on a 15-kilometer test track in India for a Mumbai – Pune Hyperloop route aimed at reducing drive time between the cities from 3-4 hours (including traffic) to 25 minutes. The company has also announced plans to conduct a study of a potential Hyperloop test track in Saudi Arabia. According to VHO, the study will focus on King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), located 100 kilometers north of the Red Sea port of Jeddah. The proposed project includes a 35-kilometer test track and will create opportunities for the development of Hyperloop technologies and expertise in the region.
VHO is conducting feasibility studies and environmental impact studies (EIS) for numerous U.S. routes, with its eye on a Chicago, Ill.-Columbus, Ohio-Pittsburgh, Pa. corridor in the Midwest, a St. Louis-Kansas City route in Missouri, and a Dallas-Fort Worth corridor in Texas. The company visited Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. in June 2019 to present its technology to members of Congress and federal stakeholders. In August, VHO launched a roadshow across the U.S., with stops in Missouri, Texas and Ohio, showcasing its XP-1 test pod in an effort to connect with communities, and to educate local and state governments on how Hyperloop can help advance the country’s transportation capabilities.
The problem behind it is that the vacuum tube (or vactrain) needs to be very stiff to cope with meteorological obstacles such as rain, air, heat or even earthquakes and vandalism. Also, to build such an ultra-robust infrastructure, tubes need to be very long, which can make the manufacturing process quite expensive, especially if the required materials are not widely available or do not exhibit the necessary features.
Most importantly, if a pump fails, the tube will return to a normal atmospheric pressure, which can be very dangerous for the safety of the passengers. The pumps required to generate the thrust needed for a hyperloop would be turbomolecular pumps. These are vacuum pumps that operate at high speeds to move gas molecules fast enough to create and maintain a vacuum. Maintaining a low-pressure vacuum involves the pump operating at between 20,000 and 90,000 rotations per minute, which means a slight fault could cause catastrophic pump failure.
Above the vactrain would be the standard atmospheric pressure, equating to about 10,000 kg of pressure per square metre. The biggest risk here is that even a minuscule puncture would cause air to rush into the tube at supersonic speeds, with atmospheric pressure behind it. This would cause the tubes to violently implode, with the pressure proving fatal to passengers. If a single pump’s motor were to vibrate, its high speeds would cause it to disintegrate and expel the turbine blades, which could easily puncture the tube structure and prove disastrous.
To avoid these issues and to ensure the Hyperloop’s infrastructure is safe and resistant in the long-term, the choice of material is vital.