Has anyone shot a projectile faster tan the speed of sound without using combustion or pneumatic or magnetic forces?
Just mechanical forces.
Can it be done?
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:52 am
by jeepkahn
yes it can, and does happen.... Bullwhip...
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:54 am
by jackssmirkingrevenge
The tip of a whip breaks the sound barrier if properly used, hence the "crack", and apparently the tips of certain aircraft propellors will also be travelling at the speed of sound. There are also some aircraft bombs which break the sound barrier purely with the force of gravity.
As to shooting a projectile, things get a bit tricky. If you consider spring air rifles to be "mechanical", then yes, it can be done, and is done on a regular basis by commercial high-powered rifles. As to using direct mechanical action like a catapult or singshot, the projectile can only travel as fast as whatever's pushing it, so the strain on the system would be immense. I don't suppose it's impossible, but you'd need a professional machine shop and extremely high quality materials to churn such a device out.
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:54 am
by mobile chernobyl
lol exactly what I was just thinking (bullwhip)
Other than that, a device taking advantage of high rotational speeds and launching an object off tangent would be pretty effective. however if your not able to use electromagnetic forces... turning it up to speed would be a bitch.
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:01 am
by inonickname
Larger tesla turbines will run to mach at the tips of the blades, but I suppose you might call that pneumatic.
Higher revving aircrafts (smaller ones usually) blade tips can exceed the speed of sound, but will often be destroyed in the process.
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:07 am
by jackssmirkingrevenge
The "DREAD" centrifugal machinegun in theory was projected to get high supersonic velocities, but I don't think anything ever came out of it.
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 12:34 pm
by D_Hall
The SOS at rotor tips is a limiting factor on the performance of helicoptors. It's not that the blades won't do it. It's that all hell breaks out when it happens so they avoid it like the plague.
In the mid-80s there was also a prop designed for passenger aircraft that was actually intended to operate in the super sonic realm. The things worked great but they were insanely loud (imagine a steady stream of sonic booms as each prop blade went by). The industry abandoned the idea after it was discovered that the incessant impact of shockwaves was actually damaging the aircraft the props were attached to!
