From the Starting to Finishing Line: Goose V’s Reliable Braking System.
With the world becoming more environmentally conscious, the Hyperloop concept has been a boon. With its many advantages over conventional modes of transportation, questions arise with regards to its actual feasibility; in particular, how to overcome its challenges and shortcomings, including safety. Safety is a top priority for any system, so it is the most important quality for any mode of transportation. For the Hyperloop, it only weighs more.
So how exactly do you stop the “fifth mode of transportation” traveling at inconceivable sonic speeds? As much as Hyperloop is praised as a revolutionary innovation of the future, questions surrounding a reliable braking system were among the many debated topics when the concept was introduced.
The braking system guarantees the operational safety and transportation efficiency of the vehicle. For a Hyperloop pod traveling at speeds of 1200 km/h (2–3 times faster than high-speed rail, and 10–15 times faster than traditional rail), even the slightest variance could lead to frightening consequences such as buffeting, which is a high-frequency instability these structures are prone to, or even ultimate failure of the entire pod.
To combat these concerns, the brakes used in our Hyperloop system are very different from conventionally known brakes. Most commonly, they employ a secondary system consisting of eddy current dependent brakes, friction brakes, or sometimes even a combination of both.
Technical Insight on Waterloop’s Braking Subsystem
To tackle this engineering challenge and develop an improved yet scalable design, team Waterloop has adopted an industry-leading, professionally engineered caliper friction brake system after thorough research and analysis to meet Hyperloop specifications. The proposed caliper friction brake functions on the mechanism of a single-acting pneumatic cylinder with spring actuation and pressure retraction, designed specifically to deliver linear motion. These spring-applied friction brakes actuate mechanically utilizing coiled springs. The friction pads clamp to the rail and the brakes are bolted directly to the frame.
The caliper friction braking system was decided to answer various needs that best fit our final design, some of them being:
- Providing a clearance between the brake pad and track which can be engineered to accommodate various guidance system tolerances.
- Ensuring a low center of mass design that aids to significantly reduce vehicle imbalances imposed on the pod.
- Owing to an integrated mechanically fail-safe system, as it functions spring-actuated to provide passive braking.
- Ensuring the system to be electrically fail-safe as a closed solenoid valve is employed.
Testing and Validation of installed Brake systems
For a brake system to be suitable, the next important criteria to be considered is its maintenance, which in turn ensures the proper functioning of the brake system. In order to validate and ensure the suitability for the Hyperloop design, the team has focused on regular periodical assessments and performance testing both the configuration and pressure proofing of the braking system. These are done by compiling study data of temperature and deceleration at different initial speeds and braking forces to create braking profiles and to predict braking capability at maximum speeds. The tests are carried out on a rotating wheel powered by a motor at 5000 rpm, equivalent to 80 m/s linear velocity to ensure nominal operation.
Considering all these safety aspects and implementing the best possible solutions to the challenges posed in designing the pod, our dedicated and astute team has been striving to build a far improved and safer version of our pod in the form of “Goose V”. So, as we delve deeper into finishing our product, stay tuned for more technical insights of our final design!
