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I don't know the scientific terms used to describe this idea properly so it may already exist and I just haven't a clue where to look.
I once posted an idea about extruding molten glass, while in micro-gravity, into a floating ball of water to create a Prince Rupert Sphere rather than a drop.
If
the Prince Rupert Drop can be formed into a sphere it would lack its Achilles-heel of a weak spot and make indestructible ball bearings, but what if we took that one step further?
In the vacuum of space heat from the molten droplet wouldn't propagate well and it should be possible to keep the glass liquid for an indefinite period of time easily using lasers.
What if while in this molten state we bombard the droplet accoustically to create a Cymatic shape of standing wave nodes within it?
We could potentially create Prince Rupert Dodecahedron by floating it through an air-lock and into a floating globule of water. (this floating pool could also be bombarded with soundwaves to create patterns within the annealing substance itself but I can't visualize what the effects of various cymatic shapes might have on the annealing process)
All of the incredible strength of a substance containing an internal vacuum combined with the strength of a geometric lattice encapsulated within it as well.
I'm not sure what uses such a form would have but I picture being able to extrude, then Cymaticize, (I'm hereby coining that phrase), and then flash anneal it into long chains of a material which might prove effective at being impervious to micrometeorite impacts if the videos on the net about Prince Rupert Drops shattering bullets is any indication.
Prince Rupert Chainmail?
Damashqis_27_20Steel
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 15 2023]
Prior art
Prince Rupert Spheres
You should bow down before the inventor of this older idea because they seem to have got there before you. Perhaps they are just naturally cleverer than you, or perhaps they just worked harder than you ever did. [pocmloc, Jan 16 2023]
[link]
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Puts me in mind of late 19th- and early 20th-century scientific and mathematical publications* where "the solution is left as an exercise for the reader". |
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*Ryan North employs this device in a footnote to his 2019 'How To Invent Everything: A Survival Guide For The Stranded Time Traveler'. Finding that footnote is left as an exercise for the reader. |
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As I've said before, I never know if the things I see in my head work until they are attempted. |
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Okay, how about this;
This is something I can try in my own back yard without needing micro gravity, but as with most of my notions you folks will know far better than me if it is theoretically possible. |
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I heat a cast iron chute to a temperature much higher than that of my molten glass, and then extrude the liquid onto it snipping tails prior to each droplets exit. |
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Then the Leidenfrost effect should bounce individual droplets into a bucket of water or liquid nitrogen already lacking their fragile tails.
They will no doubt not be perfectly spherical but maybe completely bullet proof. |
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Funny you should mention actual Damascus steel. Researching the mystery of how it was produced and the brain-fart I got from that was the original kernel which this posting grew from.
There is some debate whether the name given to the steel in question came from the place or from a man called Damashqi.
I wrote a little story of what popped into my head. [link]
It had to do with infusing the heated metal with sound waves by first creating a tuning-fork hilt to be cut away once a symphony had been captured in the blade. |
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I suspect the strength lies in the direction it's formed in. That's why it's so strong in two dimensions only. I think the opposite of what you're thinking would happen, ie it would be extremely vulnerable from any direction. |
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How about a shield composed of a metal lattice supporting Prince Rupert drops all facing the same direction? |
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Their strength comes from the surface of the glass cooling so fast that the centre is still molten within a solid core.
The solidifying centre can not contract as it cools and is under such 'negative' pressure that you could drop one to the bottom most depths of the ocean and it will still just be trying to equalize pressure. There's a very good chance that those encapsulated bubbles contain actual vacuum. |
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If we can form them without tails they will make incredible materials. |
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(I haven't gone digging on the internet yet...)
1: How big can a Drop be made? All the ones I've seen are about the same size, Ø20mm or so.
2: How short can the "tail" be made? Again, all the ones I've seen have quite a long tail; long = vulnerable, short = easier to protect.
3: Can a Drop be made of other materials? |
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//Prince Rupert Chainmail// |
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So after you have worked out how to make spheroidal drops without tails, you then have to figure out how to make torusses. (already suggested by [flying toaster] back on this idea's evil twin from 2017). |
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And then as the third and final step, work out how to make drops which can be opened and re-closed (so as to be able to link them together) |
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Only half of the tori need to be the openable, because alternate rows can be solid toruss. |
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//How big can a Drop be made?// [MB] discussed this at length (see link) |
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I'm glad it's not just me that utterly forgets stuff they did a few years ago. |
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Thanks [pocmloc].
Definitely not just you, [Loris]. I even commented on the 2017 idea; no recollection whatsoever...
//Prince Rupert Chainmail//
Might have to get a topologist on to that one: can a select set of higher-order torus-like structures (trefoil knots, etc) link together while remaining closed? (Similar to those "twisted metal" puzzles. Well-connected, unless you push/pull/rotate them JUST right.) |
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The biggest potential problem I see is with the use. Eventually, the glass WILL fail, and when it does in use as a ball bearing, how catastrophic will the failure be compared with steel? |
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[pocmloc] that guy wishes he could be like me. |
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For everybody else... you do realize that this idea is about infusing Prince Rupert Spheres with standing wave nodes as they cool and not about making Prince Rupert Spheres,(which was also my own brain fart), themselves, right? |
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Geometry combined with chemistry... and just a dash of physics for spice. |
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Yum no? I think it's yummy anyway. |
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No feedback on the Leidenfrost chute?
Will liquid glass bounce around on a metal plate which is hotter than the glass droplets? |
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If this can not be easily determined...
...why not? |
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Somebody in the past must have tried this shit. I can't be the first guy to think of trying it out in his back yard. |
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Whether or not, you're almost certainly not reinventing the wheel since you have access to modern materials and material science that didn't exist 20 years ago. Worst case you have spent time learning something about glass. Best case you're a billionaire. |
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It's just that the concept itself is bloody ancient. Has nobody ever tried snipping the tail before the molten glass hits the water?
There should be books filled with people trying variations on the original experiment and yet the only thing I can find is that if the molten glass is dropped into liquid nitrogen then the PRD becomes even stronger and the tail must be snapped much closer to the head to cause it to implode. |
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//How about a shield composed of a metal lattice supporting Prince Rupert drops all facing the same direction?// |
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I missed this anno. Must have been typing. |
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I wondered the same thing.
Encapsulate each individual tail in something like epoxy which won't let them get damaged and face them all the same way on a shield. |
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Heh. If you could control the length and direction of each tail and ran them to the edges of the shield they would act as fibre optic cables and anything behind the shield would be invisible. |
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Soon.
I've a few more projects needing completion before I get to play in my workshop full time. |
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When I finish mirror coating the inside of my 12 ft. satellite dish and build the sliding mechanism for the flat mirror to be raised into the converging rays I intend to keep a large container of glass molten within a concrete pit with water lines wrapped around it inside the concrete.
One massively heavy lid to keep the heat from dissipating whenever the sun isn't shining. |
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It's supposed to be able to reach temperatures approaching 6000 degrees so I'm going to dial that back a bit before working on a collimator. |
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You're actually building the Lightbender?!
That is awesome!
Please provide photos and/or video when it's up & running. |
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I intended to make the pit large enough that the un-melted glass, which hasn't spilled into the molten centre, somewhat insulates the concrete but I will certainly research quite a bit before constructing anything. |
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Woo needs lots of things... |
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