A Multibody Inertial Propulsion Drive with Symmetrically Placed Balls Rotating on Eccentric Trajectories

Starting with the last century, a lot of enthusiastic researchers have invested significant time and energy in proposing various drives capable to generate linear propulsion force. Regrettably, only a few of these devices passed the patent phase and have been practically materialized. The aim of this paper was to simulate the dynamic behavior of an inertial propulsion drive (IPD) developed by the authors, to demonstrate its functionality. The core of the IPD consists of two symmetric drivers that each performs rotation of eight steel balls on an eccentric path. We propose three solutions for the element which maintain the off-center trajectory of the balls. For the simulation, we used the multibody system approach and determine the evolution of the displacement, velocity, and power consumption. Further, we analyze the collisions between the elements of the system and the influence of this phenomenon on the dynamic behavior of the IPD. We found that collisions generate impact forces which affect the ball acceleration values achieved by simulation. We have concluded that the developed system is capable to generate linear movement. In addition, in terms of velocity and power consumption, the best constructive version of the retaining disk is that which has a cylindrical inner bore placed eccentric relative to the rotation center of the balls.

The Characteristic Research of Inertial Mechanism under the Condition of No Friction Contact

Inertial propulsion is a kind of special drive converting rotating motion to a one-way movement. This triggers a lot of attention, but also causes many controversies. This paper researches the inertial mechanism under the condition of no friction contact. Mathematical model is established, equations of motion are got, influence of impact force of the eccentric mass during the process of start to steady state is analyzed, movement simulation is made, and the experiment on the water is done through ultrasonic sensor. The conclusion is that the inertial mechanism we researched can only do reciprocating movement under no friction contact and one-way movement cannot be realized.