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Originally Posted by NoCO2
Ok, so I saw this mentioned in the thread about the powered trailer and thought I'd start it's own thread because it's a very interesting topic and I haven't seen it covered here as of yet.
Using a large, heavy flywheel on cars to increase FE. First off, are there any manufacturers who actually make these. I know they make lighter ones for racing applications, but I would think that heavier ones would be harder to find because it's more of a niche market per say.
Also, what about making a trailer that simply encloses a very heavy disk that is connected to the wheels of the trailer via a gearing system that would keep the disk spinning long after power from the engine was cut off. I was thinking about this because it would GREATLY improve the ability of a car to do huge gaps of coasting between accelerating while EOCing. The only thing that would be a concern to be would be getting the big lug rolling at first. Since it would be many times heavier then a standard car flywheel, how would you overcome the effort that is needed to get it spinning at first?
I'm sort of thinking of those push cars, the toy cars you push and then when you let go they have a geared flywheel inside that keeps it going for a good time afterward, sort of like a kinetic energy engine almost that would just store up all the energy you created by accelerating and then release it over time.
And as always,  |
Chrysler abandoned research on flywheels do to safety and liability issues related to bearing failures and the catastrophic events that would follow.Should the rotor bearings fail and lock the flywheel rotor,the rotor would either tear itself out of it's anchorage energized by gyroscopic forces and would continue a reign of terror until all kinetic energy was spent,or the entire vehicle would spin end-over-end,or pirhouette bumper-after-bumper.There was no way to control it.No way to contain it.Way scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!