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| Science & Technology |
| Navy investing in "shock dampening" technology |
| 2006-02-23 |
| by Victorino Matus, The Weekly Standard EFL'd to give you a taste; go read it all. THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE has given millions of dollars to a company you've never heard of in order to fund something called Project M, whose aim is "The Use of Modern Sensing and Actuation Technologies Coupled With High Speed Processing to Control Complex Dynamic Systems." In English, this means three objectives: "active control of vibration, active control of mechanical shock, and active control of magnetic fields." But for what purpose? To create an army of Magnetos capable of hurling large metallic objects at the enemy? Not quite. . . . . . . "Throughout history," [Rear Admiral Jay Cohen] said, "we had used rubber mounts" to reduce noise and vibration. "What all navies have traditionally done is put heavy, large cables all around the perimeter of the ship. We then pass electric currents through them to try and nullify the electromagnetic feature of the steel hulls." But what if you could drastically reduce the amount of noise a ship makes directly at the source? One small company in Alexandria, Virginia, was proposing just that. The result was Project M. Vibration & Sound Solutions Limited (VSSL) suggested placing mag-lev sensors at the source of the electromagnetic fields, such as motors. "The idea was to actually levitate the machinery with an array of electromagnets while using a small amount of power. " . . . Other applications include shock-absorbing seats for landing craft and humvees, which reduce casualties when a vehicle gets hit. Cool stuff with a high geek factor. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #9 Zen: watched that the other night (Steve McQueen Box DVD Set) - his instruction of numbah one was painful..."Valve" "walwe" Pretty painful movie in general. The entrenched racism and encouragement of "looksee" imitation, instead of actual teaching, like McQueen's character was doing. I strongly recommend reading the book. Just don't expect the usual Hollywood ending. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-02-23 19:49 |
| #8 The past methods described are pretty much pre-war or early WWII, which does not say a lot about the Navy. Shock and vibration noise are no jokes. Bismarks' hydrophones could 'hear' Hood and Price of Wales before they met in the Denmark Strait and both Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk inpart due to their machinery being knocked off their mounts by shock waves of explosions and near misses. |
| Posted by: Midway 2006-02-23 19:17 |
| #7 Zen: watched that the other night (Steve McQueen Box DVD Set) - his instruction of numbah one was painful..."Valve" "walwe" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-23 19:10 |
| #6 Sophisticated Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers. |
| Posted by: Al-Aska Paul 2006-02-23 18:33 |
| #5 The Right Amount. In the Right Place. At the Right Time. Makes Jack a happy camper. [big grin] |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-02-23 14:45 |
| #4 I also like the chief engineer's saying from "The Sand Pebbles": Maintain an even strain. It refers to the optimal distribution of vibration and off-center torque in the driveshaft of a naval vessel. Some main bearings of the drive line are loosened and others tightened to achieve minimum vibration and noise. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-02-23 14:44 |
| #3 The Right Amount. In the Right Place. At the Right Time. Why, if it wasn't for friction, we'd all fall down - and never get up again... |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-23 14:20 |
| #2 Vibration isolation is a small but significant subset of that universal definition of life itself: Friction Management |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-02-23 14:17 |
| #1 It is really an extension of the noise cancellation technology in your speakerphone. Very interesting and clever. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-23 09:25 |