A large steel cylinder, with a rotating drum inside.
The hollow center of the drum has force fed plastic explosive being pushed in Playdoh Fun Factory style.
A pellet of P.E. is extruded out a hole in the side of the drum, into a chamber with electrodes for detonation.
The explosion happens as a notched section of the drum passes, then an exhaust hole. Repeat. A knifey object in another hole cuts out any residue to an even level. Repeat. Revs could be reduced by braking the drum, and/or firing every 2nd turn for example. The wheels are driven from a gearbox between the drum to the wheels.-- Giblet, Sep 04 2007 Gunpowder Engine. http://library.thin...es/huygens.php3?v=2 [Galbinus_Caeli, Sep 04 2007] Nitroglycerine engine. Nitroglycerine_20Engine [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 04 2007] Like This http://picasaweb.go...5107543125162576434Sorry, I am no artist, and mspaint.exe pwns nobody [Giblet, Sep 07 2007] Just don't crash it [+].-- acurafan07, Sep 04 2007 Piezo ignition please. Could a lowertech one use gunpowder and a flint 'n steel drum?-- marklar, Sep 04 2007 Could we have an image to go with this one? Possibly even a video?-- loonquawl, Sep 04 2007 Don't you need to put a blasting cap in each explody bit?
Also what is a "chamger"?-- Galbinus_Caeli, Sep 04 2007 And behold, someone has actually come close to making the single stroke engine.
"Hey chump, wanna drag?"
"Umm, no."
[+] You had me at "knifey"-- elhigh, Sep 04 2007 You had me at 'hollow'.-- marklar, Sep 04 2007 Bet the amateur-hour would-be bombers at Glasgow airport would've liked this.-- Murdoch, Sep 04 2007 You had me at _YOU_drive it. I'm a maniac driver. +-- xandram, Sep 04 2007 Baked in the form of 1970s Chevrolets. [+]-- shapu, Sep 04 2007 Doh, Chamber.-- Giblet, Sep 06 2007 Seems kind of redundant with the nitroglycerin engine idea.
You also haven't addressed how you will fire the PE. I think it requires an electrical firing charge. I always heard it was shock resistant and could be lit on fire with no ill effect. It is only dangerous when the blasting cap is connected to it.-- jhomrighaus, Sep 06 2007 So this would actually be kind of practical since it wouldn't explode on impact... Well except for the whole refueling with plastic explosives part.-- acurafan07, Sep 06 2007 jhomrighaus, the idea specifically states there are electrodes in the firing chamber. I would assume you understand that these are hooked up to power and timing to fire the P.E.
Did you read the idea? Nitroglycerin is a liquid and would need a whole different delivery system.
I mean writing your comment without reading the idea took more time then reading the idea and not commenting would have.
sheesh.-- fancypants, Sep 06 2007 To repeat myself, you need to put a blasting cap in each charge of C-4 to set it off. You can run an electric arc through in, or set it on fire, or hit it with a hammer and it isn't going to explode. You need to use a smaller explosion to set it off.-- Galbinus_Caeli, Sep 06 2007 I did read. My point was that someone already proposed an explosives powered engine, you just made a small change and created a slightly less workable explosives powered engine.-- jhomrighaus, Sep 06 2007 I wonder if you could use some sort of glow plug and a compression zone with a piston to achieve detonation.
What causes the drum to rotate?(ie how is the expansion of gases translated into rotary motion)-- jhomrighaus, Sep 06 2007 you're all scared to vote against. its a male thing.
oh buggar, sounds like fun.-- po, Sep 06 2007 A new blasting cap could be fed in the other side each firing, like a gun mecahinism.
The notched section of the tube is a curved shape that uses the exploded gasses to rotate the internal cylinder with the PE in it.-- Giblet, Sep 06 2007 nice name, but I don't understand... is it a joke? [-]-- afinehowdoyoudo, Sep 06 2007 Boning an idea you don't undestand? Seems pretty weak.
Everyone else got it.-- Giblet, Sep 06 2007 Perhaps I misunderstand. If an idea seems so vague as to be incomprehensible, it is to be fishboned, no?-- afinehowdoyoudo, Sep 06 2007 I can retype the whole idea for you, but since the majority of people here understood the concept, i'll take the bone as it's easier than discussing with you.-- Giblet, Sep 06 2007 I'm still unclear on how a curved notch in a drum creates rotary motion. What you have described sounds more like a rotating pressure vessel to vent the excess pressure. There is no apparent compression or displacement change mechanism to translate the pressure into motion. Even with very very small portions I think you will have to make this an extremely large drum to with stand the pressure.-- jhomrighaus, Sep 07 2007 Titanium perhaps?-- acurafan07, Sep 07 2007 Not only incredibly expensive... but I'm thinking it wouldn't work. Plastic explosives such as C4 have incredible detonation velocities - as such, the blast effect isn't much for pushing. It's more of a shattering effect. Why do you think they use gun powder in bullets, rather than the more powerful flash powder? It'd just blow apart the cylinder...-- Runtman, Sep 07 2007 I would make the steel thick enough to contain the explosion. If for some reason steel can not be made thick enough, then I will say poo poo to that because it can always be made thick enough to contain and convert the energy to rational energy.
Too expensive? Of course it is.
I made a crappy picture that may help. See Link.-- Giblet, Sep 07 2007 //I made a crappy picture that may help.//
yeah, i still don't get it.
but then my daddy wouldn't teach me engines. *sniff*-- k_sra, Sep 07 2007 in your drawing is the gray flat thing supposed to be a plate welded inside the chamber that the explosion acts against or does it represent something else?-- jhomrighaus, Sep 07 2007 0-Drag Racing World Champ in 2.1 seconds. Bun!-- croissantz, Sep 08 2007 Too bad it doesn't actually work as described or illustrated.-- jhomrighaus, Sep 09 2007 It's a cross section.
This slice would be at the end of the tube.
The grey matter inside is PE, in a cylinder fasion.
At the end, a cylinder extends from the edge of the PE cylinder, "Playdoh Fun factory Style".
A plunger at the near end of the tube pushes the PE towards the, extruding it into the firing chamber.
Maybe I can do an Isometric 3D view for you as well.-- Giblet, Sep 09 2007 "I would make the steel thick enough to contain the explosion. If for some reason steel can not be made thick enough, then I will say poo poo to that because it can always be made thick enough to contain and convert the energy to rational energy."
I don't think that you understand what I'm trying to say. It certainly is possible to make the steel thick enough to contain the explosion. However, it still won't drive. Plastic explosives explode too fast to actually propell anything. The blast isn't long enough. You'd need to use some sort of lower power fuel.-- Runtman, Sep 10 2007 You can release 20,000,000,000 joules in an hour or a picosecond, but that much energy was still released and has to go somewhere.
However to have the explosion move something at a useful speed, whatever it moves has to be really heavy. Weight is the enemy of an automobile.-- BLSTIC, Aug 27 2009 pointless to use a monopropellant given the abundance of oxygen in the atmosphere, [-]-- FlyingToaster, Aug 27 2009 Has anyone done the Citroën C4 gag yet?-- coprocephalous, Aug 28 2009 No, the stage is all yours. Just make it good...
<waits>-- wagster, Aug 28 2009 <shuffles uncomfortably, mumbles> Err, that was it. Sorry. </sum>-- coprocephalous, Aug 28 2009 random, halfbakery