Author Topic: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build  (Read 932303 times)

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Offline Jon

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #150 on: June 28, 2013, 06:11:34 PM »
Are you bell mouthing the intake at all Anders?
That's a big intake hole but looking at all your other work I'm sure you have worked out how big it needs to be, I have no turbine experience.
A course mesh will disrupt the airflow a fair bit though.

I'm impressed with the tidiness and simplicity of your build, I don't mean simple as in easy but how you have managed to make to keep each component as simple as possible. Obviously a lot of thought and planning.

I was concerned about the hose in a crash, I'm building a liner though so the likelihood of mine falling over is probably over 100%, a sit on bike less so.
I still would be trying to keep the hoses inside the frame, it could make the difference between cosmetic damage or end of the meet for a bit of a spill.

Cheers
jon
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Offline Buickguy3

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #151 on: June 28, 2013, 10:19:53 PM »
  Mesh will cut the airflow a bunch. Try holding a window screen out the door going down the road. Lots of resistance.
 Doug  :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
I keep going faster and faster and I don't know why. All I have to do is live and die.
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Offline Mobacken Racing

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #152 on: June 29, 2013, 12:23:02 AM »
Are you bell mouthing the intake at all Anders?
That's a big intake hole but looking at all your other work I'm sure you have worked out how big it needs to be, I have no turbine experience.
A course mesh will disrupt the airflow a fair bit though.

I'm impressed with the tidiness and simplicity of your build, I don't mean simple as in easy but how you have managed to make to keep each component as simple as possible. Obviously a lot of thought and planning.

I was concerned about the hose in a crash, I'm building a liner though so the likelihood of mine falling over is probably over 100%, a sit on bike less so.
I still would be trying to keep the hoses inside the frame, it could make the difference between cosmetic damage or end of the meet for a bit of a spill.

Cheers
jon

Hi Jon,

No bellmouthing at all since the idea is to force ram air into the engine at speed, the hole in the fairing is partly cosmetic since much air will pass through the space between the fender and fairing as well. Not very much calulations here I must admit, I´ll do some test runs and measure the pressure/underpressure in front of the compressor wheel to see if the air intake is restrictive or not.

You and Doug are right about the mesh cutting airflow, I´ll try to find the coarsest one around and if the engine is starved on air (can easily be seen on the exhaust temp) I´ll remove it.

Every part I make for the bike I try hard to make as field serviceable as possible, going overseas is a huge project so I will have to bring spares for everything so I won´t be left in the pits because of some small part breaking down. This brings a kind of simplicity to the bike that I like, the less parts it has the less likely it is to break down.  :-)

With the bike on its side the fairings will hit the ground before the hose does, and the foot pegs will add to that so I hope that it will be enough. Looking at it now I could have fitted the suction line at the front of the tank with a long pickup tube but the problem would still be there since the oil line still has to run outside the fuel tank.

Cheers!
/Anders

Offline Mobacken Racing

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #153 on: July 01, 2013, 04:23:19 PM »
Today I solved the problem with fastening the front sprocket to the gearbox output shaft!  :lol:



My earlier idea was to hire a mechanical company to cut splines on the shaft and have a friend of mine to spark erode internal splines in a sprocket blank, both expensive and troublesome so I did a test today with an old hayabusa sprocket I had laying around. I opened up the centre hole in the lathe and milled a 10mm slot for the woodruff key.



This sprocket had lots of holes drilled in it but when I make the "real" one I will use an undrilled sprocket, with a spacer behind it I can align the front and rear sprocket perfectly and another spacer outside the sprocket locked in place with an M10 bolt in the threaded hole in the shaft will make everything rock solid. Since there will be a smooth, constant torque I cannot imagine that it won´t be sturdy enough.



This was the only detail left unfabricated that I didn´t know how to make so this is a big step forward for the project, the best thing about it is that the gearbox shafts are left unmodified so if I need to change them for some reason I won´t have to go though some expensive machining job again.

I have also recieved a front brake cylinder for a GSXR750 identical to the one I already have, this one fits upside down on the left handlebar and will maneuver the rear brake.



Cheers!
/Anders

Offline Mobacken Racing

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #154 on: July 02, 2013, 03:57:41 PM »
I got the battery for the bike today! A 52Ah Deka Dominator deep cycle battery made for total loss systems so no cranking battery.



The lid for the fuel tank is also finished so as soon as I can I will start figuring out where to place the tank connections.



Cheers!
/Anders

Offline grumm441

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #155 on: July 02, 2013, 05:45:17 PM »
.
I have also recieved a front brake cylinder for a GSXR750 identical to the one I already have, this one fits upside down on the left handlebar and will maneuver the rear brake.



Cheers!
/Anders

That might be hard to bleed being upside down, couldn't you look for a rear master cylinder off a scooter

Ducati used a sprocket with a single key on a GTL 500 twin, they always break thru the keyway. It might be good to weld a band around it for that extra bit of strength

G
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Offline Jon

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #156 on: July 03, 2013, 03:46:56 AM »
You can't buy a bossed sprocket the pitch, tooth count and shaft dimensions you need straight off the shelf Anders?

Pretty common thing in industrial applications and cheaper than you'd think.

jon
Underhouse Engineering
Luck = Opportunity + Preparation^3

Offline Mobacken Racing

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #157 on: July 03, 2013, 06:17:15 AM »
That might be hard to bleed being upside down, couldn't you look for a rear master cylinder off a scooter

Ducati used a sprocket with a single key on a GTL 500 twin, they always break thru the keyway. It might be good to weld a band around it for that extra bit of strength

G

The brake fluid container is connected to the cylinder through a hose so it can be fitted above the handlebar, if it was an integrated container it wouldn´t work very well since it would be hanging upside down.

Jon: Your idea about an industrial sprocket is very good, my gas turbine mentor in Australia suggested the same thing last night so I will look into where to source them. He has used one for his first turbine bike and only had to shave some tooth width away on the lathe for it to fit.

Before I order any sprockets I have to do some calcs on what gearing I need, my first goal is to reach 200mph in a standing mile so I will gear the bike for slightly over 200. :-)

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #158 on: July 03, 2013, 09:26:18 PM »
Anders, one solution is to use as long a key as possible, to make a sleeve, broach a groove in the sleeve, and weld the sprocket to the sleeve.  This way you are distributing the shear load over as much area of the key as you can.

Offline Mobacken Racing

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #159 on: July 04, 2013, 12:57:04 AM »
That is another thing that would work, welding the sprocket is something I´d rather not do if I have an option so I´ll try the industrial sprocket first.

I´ve fitted the filler neck, fuel return and the breather to the lid now, not welded yet though.



Inside the tank I will fit an extra wall to stop the fuel from sloshing around and the fuel pickup will be at the rear wall with a snout so the fuel will be taken 1/3 from the rear wall. This is because of the risk for a flame out if I brake the bike when the tank is close to empty, with the pickup closer to the centre of the tank the risk for this should be slightly less.

Cheers!
/Anders

Offline manta22

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #160 on: July 04, 2013, 11:30:11 AM »
Anders;

The reticulated open-pore foam used in fuel cells works well to keep fuel from sloshing around in a tank. Nice build!

Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

Offline Mobacken Racing

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #161 on: July 04, 2013, 05:08:44 PM »
Anders;

The reticulated open-pore foam used in fuel cells works well to keep fuel from sloshing around in a tank. Nice build!

Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ

Hi Neil,

I´ve thought about it but if I stuff the tank full of foam before I weld it shut the foam will probably be a melted blob of plastic at the bottom of the tank afterwards...  :-(

When my youngest girl had her daily lunch nap I got some minor stuff done on the fuel tank, first off I welded a length of aluminum tubing to an AN8 fitting and drilled a hole for it in the rear baffle.



I also fitted a sight glass to have a clear view of the fuel consumption, I will fill the tank between each run but still it would be interesting to see how much is left after the initial warmup of the engine.



I barely managed to make a template for the tank baffle before my daughter woke up, next time I will cut it out in aluminum and weld it in place.



Cheers!
/Anders

Offline manta22

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #162 on: July 04, 2013, 05:13:10 PM »
Anders;

The foam is put in through the filler hole. You wad up the foam into a small ball and squeeze it in the fuel filler hole-- it expands when you release it inside the tank.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ
Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

Offline Mobacken Racing

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #163 on: July 05, 2013, 04:13:13 PM »
Hi Neil,

Aha, I didn´t know that. My filler hole is only 4-5cm in diameter so it might be difficult to roll a ball that size, but it doesen´t matter now since I welded the internal baffle to the tank two hours ago.

I cut the suction tube end at an angle so it sucks fuel from the bottom to avoid vortexes forming when the fuel level is low (I couldn´t figure out a practical way to build a "hat" for it), with the baffle in place I started welding the tank together except for the lid which will be fitted last.



While waiting for the air cooled torch to cool down between the passes I fitted an old scrap chain to the sprockets to see how the clearance and alignment would be, just like I thought I will have to mill some material away from the rear gearbox mount to get enough clearance for the chain.



Since the "real" front sprocket will be several tooths larger I will have to take a fair bit of the mount edge away, no problems since it is overly beefy as it is. :)



Cheers!
/Anders

Offline Mobacken Racing

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Re: APS/Ω Gas turbine bike build
« Reply #164 on: July 10, 2013, 04:28:59 PM »
Last saturday night I decided I needed some workshop time with a couple of beers after the family had gone to bed, so I headed out to the shed and continued working on the fuel tank. :cheers:



A welder needs quality music! :)



The tank is cooling off after welding, the Argon bottle is almost empty so I need to get it filled before the next workshop pass.



The tank lid in place and lids placed on the fuel return and breather connections.



One of the rear tank mounts in place.



The other of the two rear mounts, sturdy enough I believe.



While waiting for the tank to cool down I made the last three braided fuel hoses for the bike.



Here the tank is in place, it was almost 3 in the morning so making the front mounts had to wait for some other day.



A snake nest of hoses everywhere on the bike, I will have to figure out some fancy aluminum clamps later to arramge them a bit.



Cheers!
/Anders