17 June – 23 June

Purchased aluminium tracks of 3 different thicknesses, aluminium tubes of 2 different diameters and springs for trial tests

  1. 4 tests: sliding ice on aluminium tracks of 3 different thicknesses, and on a flat piece of aluminium
  2. Springs were used for starting and receiving the ice


    Fig 5.1: Prototype of spring system

     


    Fig 5.2: Sliding Ice along new metal tracks with prototype of spring system

Ice used in trial tests were frozen in dry ice fridge (-70°C) of CBC store

  1. Depth of groove on edges of different thickness and total amount of water lost were recorded.

                                        Fig 5.3: Grooves from metal tracks of different thickness

Discussion with Dr Ho on new tack, ice and start/stop mechanism designs

  1. Flat, curved track: flat track prevents grooving, and curvature ensures that ice slides straight
    1. Contacted vendor to bend tracks for experiments
    2. Determined 3D design of box for freezing round-bottomed ice for curved tracks
  2. New design of ice also contains a sink and a slit
    1. Sink: to contain liquid nitrogen for cooling
    2. Slit: slit at the bottom which also connects to the sink allows liquid nitrogen to leak downwards, providing cooling to the bottom of the ice and maybe a thin layer of vapour to further reduce friction
  3. Start/stop mechanism
    1. Springs: contacted Singapore Springs regarding spring of choice, proceeding to design gear box to control release of springs
    2. [new idea] Pendulum: contain ice in a box and swing the box; when the box is stopped, ice will travel by Newton’s First Law
    3. [new idea] Gas: use a low friction cylinder to start/stop/bounce ice by adding/removing/adding gas from the other ends of the cylinder
    4. [new idea] Rubber bands: replacement of springs