Engineers working on the 1000 mph Bloodhound supersonic car (SSC) and motion control experts at Parker Hannifin, have revealed a closer look at the vehicle’s airbrake system.
Product sponsor, Parker, is supplying advanced equipment to operate Bloodhound’s airbrake doors, store backup hydraulic power and assist vehicle stability. This includes cylinders, manifold blocks and winglet controls. A short film released by the two partners (http://tinyurl.com/kb8jlbs) gives an overview of how the airbrake system works.
To slow Bloodhound SSC from 800 mph and below, driver Andy Green will press a button on his 3D printed titanium steering wheel to operate the twin Parker linear actuators (cylinders). These cylinders will push the airbrake doors open into the airflow, carrying a load of five tonnes per door and increasing the drag on the car – slowing it at 3G deceleration, equal to losing 60 mph per second. As Andy says: “It will be uncomfortable ... most people would call this a crash.”
The metre-square doors are manufactured from carbon fibre and aluminium by URT Group with material from SHD and Sigmatex. The Parker cylinders can exert a force of seven tonnes as they open the 28 kg doors out into the airflow.
Parker is also supplying two composite piston accumulators – an emerging technology applied in controlled environments, but not yet widely available in the general marketplace.
This is the second time that Parker’s UK team has supported a world land-speed record. The company also backed Thrust SSC, which set the existing world record in 1997.
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