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A piston is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from ... more
A piston is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from ... more
A piston is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from ... more
As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total ... more
A crank is an arm attached at right angles to a rotating shaft by which reciprocating motion is imparted to or received from the shaft. It is used to ... more
The compression ratio of an internal-combustion engine or external combustion engine is a value that represents the ratio of the volume of its combustion ... more
Almost all reciprocating engines use cranks (with connecting rods) to transform the back-and-forth motion of the pistons into rotary motion. The cranks are ... more
Pneumatic cylinders (sometimes known as air cylinders) are mechanical devices which use the power of compressed gas to produce a force in a reciprocating ... more
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of a reciprocating engine in a single movement from top dead centre (... more
Pneumatic cylinders (sometimes known as air cylinders) are mechanical devices which use the power of compressed gas to produce a force in a reciprocating ... more
The Diesel cycle is a combustion process of a reciprocating internal combustion engine. In it, fuel is ignited by heat generated by compressing air in the ... more
In mechanical engineering, the Beale number is a parameter that characterizes the performance of Stirling engines. It is often used to estimate the power ... more
The constant volume adiabatic flame temperature is the temperature that results from a complete combustion process that occurs without any work, heat ... more
A mechanical joint is a part of a machine which is used to connect another mechanical part or mechanism. Mechanical joints may be temporary or permanent. ... more
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton’s second and third laws.
A very common question is how to contrast the thrust
... more
Moment of inertia is the mass property of a rigid body that determines the torque needed for a desired angular acceleration about an axis of rotation. ... more
A threaded rod, also known as a stud, is a relatively long rod that is threaded on both ends; the thread may extend along the complete length of the ... more
A threaded rod, also known as a stud, is a relatively long rod that is threaded on both ends; the thread may extend along the complete length of the ... more
A knuckle joint is a mechanical joint used to connect two rods which are under a tensile load, when there is a requirement of small amount of flexibility, ... more
A knuckle joint is a mechanical joint used to connect two rods which are under a tensile load, when there is a requirement of small amount of flexibility, ... more
Pulse tube cryocooler(or refrigerator) can be made without moving parts in the low temperature part of the device, making the cooler suitable for a wide ... more
The clamping load is assumed to act on all friction surfaces equally. For dry disc brakes it doesn’t matter whether the brake is of the sliding type or ... more
The first image shows how helicopters store large amounts of rotational kinetic energy in their blades. This energy must be put into the blades before takeoff and maintained until the end of the flight. The engines do not have enough power to simultaneously provide lift and put significant rotational energy into the blades.
The second image shows a helicopter from the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service. Over 50,000 lives have been saved since its operations beginning in 1973. Here, a water rescue operation is shown. (credit: 111 Emergency, Flickr)
Strategy
Rotational and translational kinetic energies can be calculated from their definitions. The last part of the problem relates to the idea that energy can change form, in this case from rotational kinetic energy to gravitational potential energy.
Solution for (a)
We must convert the angular velocity to radians per second and calculate the moment of inertia before we can find Er . The angular velocity ω for 1 r.p.m is
and for 300 r.p.m
The moment of inertia of one blade will be that of a thin rod rotated about its end.
The total I is four times this moment of inertia, because there are four blades. Thus,
and so The rotational kinetic energy is
Solution for (b)
Translational kinetic energy is defined as
To compare kinetic energies, we take the ratio of translational kinetic energy to rotational kinetic energy. This ratio is
Solution for (c)
At the maximum height, all rotational kinetic energy will have been converted to gravitational energy. To find this height, we equate those two energies:
Discussion
The ratio of translational energy to rotational kinetic energy is only 0.380. This ratio tells us that most of the kinetic energy of the helicopter is in its spinning blades—something you probably would not suspect. The 53.7 m height to which the helicopter could be raised with the rotational kinetic energy is also impressive, again emphasizing the amount of rotational kinetic energy in the blades.
Reference : OpenStax College,College Physics. OpenStax College. 21 June 2012.
http://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/college-physics
Creative Commons License : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
A ball screw is a mechanical linear actuator that translates rotational motion to linear motion with little friction. A threaded shaft provides a helical ... more
Pulse tube cryocooler(or refrigerator) can be made without moving parts in the low temperature part of the device, making the cooler suitable for a wide ... more
Ejection fraction (EF) is the fraction of blood in the left and right ventricles pumped out with each heartbeat. EF is applied to both the right ... more
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The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave propagating through an elastic medium.
The speed of sound for
... more
A ball screw is a mechanical linear actuator that translates rotational motion to linear motion with little friction. A threaded shaft provides a helical ... more
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A typical small rescue helicopter, like the one in the Figure below, has four blades, each is 4.00 m long and has a mass of 50.0 kg. The blades can be approximated as thin rods that rotate about one end of an axis perpendicular to their length. The helicopter has a total loaded mass of 1000 kg. (a) Calculate the rotational kinetic energy in the blades when they rotate at 300 rpm. (b) Calculate the translational kinetic energy of the helicopter when it flies at 20.0 m/s, and compare it with the rotational energy in the blades. (c) To what height could the helicopter be raised if all of the rotational kinetic energy could be used to lift it?