SuperTurbine (tm) and Serpentine, and other torque transfer systems

[PierreB]

Hi Doug @dougselsam,

Following a discussion on chiral metamaterials with high elastic torsional energy storage capacity:

Slow Chat III

The references of this article: Fang, X., Yu, D., Wen, J. et al. Large recoverable elastic energy in chiral metamaterials via twist buckling. Nature 639 , 639–645 (2025). Large recoverable elastic energy in chiral metamaterials via twist buckling | Nature Another excerpt, in “Buckling of chiral and non-chiral rods” section: Lattices consisting of angled rods (Fig. 1c–e) show improved stiffness and max(F 1rod) with increased oblique angle (θ) (Fig. 2a). However, in buckled rods, σ cpr ≪ σ b…

It looks that Fig. 1, particularly f and g, show configurations that might perhaps be appropriate as a shaft, if we assume that they could extend in length and make a very long shaft. If it is possible scaling mass penalty would be partially solved.

Maybe there would be possibilities for Daisy as well.

If you have very long shafts, you would still have to lift the whole thing by kite lifters or aerostats every 10 or 20 m, if you want to have an almost unlimited range. And it’s not easy to attach something fixed to a rotating shaft. Perhaps this would be possible with the help of the intermediate toruses.