91–100 of 107 posts
Whenever I see an explanation of an old technology, I don't wonder "How do that work" but rather "How did they even build this" How did they make vacuum and be sure it was indeed a vacuum ? How did they melted that metal alloy into the right shape ? How did they built those precise mirrors ? How many times did they fail before succeeding ? How did they lubricate and seal properly all components ? I know I could expla…
How do you make those animations?
Whenever I see an explanation of an old technology, I don't wonder "How do that work" but rather "How did they even build this" How did they make vacuum and be sure it was indeed a vacuum ? How did they melted that metal alloy into the right shape ? How did they built those precise mirrors ? How many times did they fail before succeeding ? How did they lubricate and seal properly all components ? I know I could expla…
For those in London who want to see one of these in the flesh, as it were, there's one in Tottenham: https://www.mbeam.org/
There’s also the amazing Crossness, which does have occasional steaming days. And if you’re in Manchester the Museum of Science and Industry has a great collection of small and large engines which they run
Author here. The beam engine created power from steam, and was a key part of the early Industrial Revolution. The article is a deep dive into the engine: how it works, the history behind it, and the engineering tradeoffs the builders faced. There are quite a few interactive figures that I hope make the concepts easier to see.
This is impressive work!
my grandpa had a table top model of a beam engine that he would power with a pressure cooker
https://forum.irishwhiskeysociety.com/viewtopic.php-p=12194....
Ancient Greeks had a steam engine. They called it a Hero's engine. They used it as a toy. They couldn't use it as anything else than a toy. The reason they couldn't because they didn't have the metallurgy and the machining to create pistons, valves, etc. There's an important lesson that can be applied to every technology, I think: technological progress is always iterated, never revolutionized. If your novelty - a pr…
It was a turbine. You don’t use pistons in a turbine. They lacked knowledge of turbine blades, the metallurgy to make pressure vessels, and the tools to make parts with the tolerances needed to spin at high RPM and withstand high temperatures.
Author here. The beam engine created power from steam, and was a key part of the early Industrial Revolution. The article is a deep dive into the engine: how it works, the history behind it, and the engineering tradeoffs the builders faced. There are quite a few interactive figures that I hope make the concepts easier to see.
> This push on every wall is pressure, and we will measure it in atmospheres, multiples of the ordinary pressure of the air around us. No, don't do that. Because the pressure of the atmosphere isn't constant. It varies with weather and how high you are. Instead use Pascal (Pa) or Hectopascal (hPA). I really pays back to use SI units for physical things. Suddenly you have formulas without weird constants, like 1 Pa =…
1 atm = 101,325 PA
It is not an SI unit but it is widely used and very useful in situations, such as this, where pressure relative to atmospheric pressure is relevant.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nope. Balls to the wall refers to the balls on the end of throttle levers in aircraft cockpit. Going balls to the wall means pushing the throttle and mixture all the way in to the firewall/instrument panel for maximum power.
Nit: I believe this originated with locomotives, predating aircraft by quite a bit!
https://www.thedrive.com/news/the-phrase-balls-to-the-wall-c...
Author here. The beam engine created power from steam, and was a key part of the early Industrial Revolution. The article is a deep dive into the engine: how it works, the history behind it, and the engineering tradeoffs the builders faced. There are quite a few interactive figures that I hope make the concepts easier to see.
Despite all the details, you still left out a lot. Safety valve, pressure gauge(s), regulation of the water pump, water level gauge for the boiler, lubrication (you only have two of the glass/metal can reservoir types for the main axle), and then maybe also the valve gear (the control mechanism for the valves which takes into account where in the cycle the machine is and maybe also how fast it is going, how fast it s…
RE: safety valve, pressure gauge, etc. - yes, there is definitely another article to be built here :). Another fun aspect is safely starting the machine, warming it up appropriately, flushing water from the system, and the bigger engines even had a small engine to get the wheel turning.