Hypersonic Ground Electric AB Engine by Alexander Bolonkin

Hypersonic Ground Electric AB Engine by Alexander Bolonkin

Abstract
At the present time, rocket launch systems, flight passenger-transport and ground passenger systems have reached their peak of development. In the last 30 years there has been no increase in speed or reductions in trip costs and space launch. The space launch and air and ground transportation industry needs revolutionary ideas, which allow a jump in speed and delivery capability, and a dramatic drop in space launch and trip price. This idea (kinetic aviation and space launch) was offered and developed in a series of the author researches [1]-[7], but an important facet of this method – the ground electric hypersonic engine - was insufficiently developed. Rail Gun idea was unfit for low acceleration and long rails. All energy is spent into creating a powerful magnetic field produces a strong flash when the apparatus is disconnected from rails. When the rail length is increased, the efficiency of low speed railgun engine approaches zero.
The main idea of the offered ground hypersonic electric engine is segmentation of the acceleration track on small special closed-loop sections (12.5 – 100 m) and a system of special switches which allow return of the magnetic energy to the system transferring it to apparatus movement. This increases the efficiency of hypersonic engine up 0.9, avoids the burning of rails and using the engine for long periods of time. The same idea may be used in a conventional Rail Gun.
Author designed and computed the feasibility and practability of this invention which he designed for the purpose of using it as a space launcher for astronauts and space load, as method for hypersonic long distance aviation and as method for supersonic passenger ground rail transportation. The offered system will be significantly cheaper than the currently used MagLev (Magnetic Levitation) systems, because the vehicle employs conventional wings for levitation and the hypersonic engine is very simple. The offered system may be also used for mass launch of projectiles in war.
Key word: hypersonic ground engine, space launcher, air catapult transport, kinetic aviation, air kinetic system, new high speed ground system.

Uh, so how is supposed to work? The description makes it sound like it is efficiently draining electromagnets of track segments that the main sled has passed, to charge up the track segments the sled is approaching? Unless it is doing something crazy like a linear turbine setup with an electric heater core replacing a conventional burner (though that will need an amazing pantograph for electric pickup unless you are coupling via induction)?

The answer is probably here.... but the picture shows what might happen to an advanced project if it is too ambitious too early!

The offered system will be significantly cheaper than the currently used MagLev (Magnetic Levitation) systems, because the vehicle employs conventional wings for levitation

Click to expand...

That easy eh?? I must have missed something, If it really is that easy I also have a cunning plan to make MagLev trains cheaper. However I would imagine that maintaining the necessary clearances between the launch vehicle and the "rails" by flying the vehicle on "wings for levitation" would be quite a feat of precision flying.

So after googling and reading the PDF, it's appears to be basically a switched segment railgun using steel rails, to avoid having to power up the entire rail gun, and only switch on the current segments the sled is traversing. Removing the levitation requirement by using vehicle or sled aerodynamics/ground effect is easy to visualize at the speeds involved, though standing start is an issue. If the railgun components are arranged well, it may be possible to achieve some self centering effects, which coupled with reasonable sled/vehicle shaping might achieve a stable passive control configuration.

PDF download at the following

http://vixra.org/abs/1301.0043

and links to other stuff by the same author it seems

http://bolonkin.narod.ru/p65.htm

http://www.scribd.com/search?query=Bolonkin

http://arxiv.org/find/all/1/all:+Bolonkin/0/1/0/all/0/1

I dunno, at the upper end of discussed capabilities the engineering challenges here seem... stretching?

Flying under aerodynamic control in very close proximity to a launch track 270 - 400 km long at a peak speed of 4 - 6 km/s!

I understand your point, "If the rail gun components are arranged well, it may be possible to achieve some self centering effects, which coupled with reasonable sled/vehicle shaping might achieve a stable passive control configuration".

But

At the upper limits of the speeds (inertias) discussed, even a small deviation in flight path will required a large "self centering" force to correct. To me, rather than doing away with the requirement for "2D magnetic levitation", the concept has introduced the need for "3D magnetic self centering".

My issue is with the claim "The offered system will be significantly cheaper than the currently used MagLev (Magnetic Levitation) systems, because the vehicle employs conventional wings for levitation". Maybe this is feasible at Mag Lev train speeds... but at 6 kms-1?

I could only imagine how strong that thing would have to be to fly a couple thousand meters a second...