Bloodhound SSC
  Logo of the project and profile of the vehicle |
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| Predecessor | Thrust SSC |
|---|---|
| Class | Land speed record vehicle |
| Engine | Rolls-Royce Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan Falcon HTP rocket Cosworth CA2010 Formula 1 race engine (APU) |
| Length | 12.8 m (42 ft) |
| Width | 6.4 m (21 ft) |
| Kerb weight | 6,422 kg (14,160 lb) (fuelled) |
Bloodhound SSC is the name of a project aiming to break the land speed record with a pencil-shaped car powered by a jet engine and a rocket designed to reach approximately 1,000 miles per hour (1,609 km/h). It is being developed and built with the intention of breaking the land speed record by the largest ever margin.[1]
If £10 million of sponsorship funding is obtained the construction should be complete by the end of 2012 and the record attempts should take place in early 2013.[2]
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[edit] Development
The project was announced on 23 October 2008 at the Science Museum in London by Lord Drayson, the Minister of Science in the UK's Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, who in 2006 first proposed the project to Richard Noble and Andy Green; the two men who between them have held the land speed record for 25 years.
Richard Noble, engineer, adventurer, and former paint salesman,[3] reached 633 mph (1,019 km/h) driving turbojet-powered car named Thrust 2 across the Nevada desert in 1983. In 1997, he headed the project to build the Thrust SSC, driven by Andy Green, an RAF pilot, at 763 mph (1,228 km/h), thereby breaking the sound barrier (in compliance with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile rules) for the first time ever by a land vehicle.
The task of driving the vehicle will fall to the land speed record holder Wing Commander Green, who will lie feet-first in the Bloodhound. As the car accelerates from 0-1,000 mph (1,600 km/h) in 42 seconds, he will experience a force of approximately 2.5g (two and a half times his bodyweight) and the blood will rush to his head.
To slow down, airbrakes will deploy at 800 mph (1,300 km/h) and parachutes at 600 mph (970 km/h). Disc brakes will be used below 250 mph (400 km/h). As he decelerates, experiencing forces of up to 3g, the blood will drain to his feet and he could black out. He will practise for this in a stunt aircraft, flying upside-down over the British countryside.
[edit] Design
The project is based in what used to be the Maritime Heritage Centre on the Bristol harbourside, located next to Brunel's SS Great Britain. This building has been renamed the Bloodhound Technical Centre.
The College of Engineering at Swansea University has been heavily involved in the design of the vehicle from the start. Professor Oubay Hassan, Professor Ken Morgan and their team have used Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in order to provide an understanding of the aerodynamic characteristics of the proposed shape, at all speeds, including predicting the likely vertical, lateral and drag forces on the vehicle and its pitch and yaw stability.[4] This technology, originally developed for the aerospace industry, was validated for a land-going vehicle during the design of Thrust SSC. It was this involvement with the previous land speed record that prompted Richard Noble to approach Swansea in April 2007 to see if they could help with this latest challenge. Swansea University's School of the Environment and Society was also enlisted to help determine a new test site for the record as the test site for the Thrust SSC record attempt has become unsuitable.[5]
A prototype Eurojet EJ200 jet engine developed for the Eurofighter and bound for a museum, was donated to the project. This will take the car to 300 mph (480 km/h), after which a bespoke hybrid rocket designed by Daniel Jubb (nicknamed "Rocket Dan"), 26, from Manchester, who built his first rocket at the age of 5, will boost the car up to 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h). A third engine, an 800 hp (600 kW) 2.4 Litre Cosworth CA2010 F1 V8 petrol engine, is used as an auxiliary power unit and to drive the oxidiser pump for the rocket. The jet engine will provide nine tonnes of thrust and the rocket will add another 12. The Super Sonic Car will have roughly the same power as 180 F1 cars.
The four 36-inch (910 mm) diameter wheels will rotate at up to 10,500 rpm and will be machined from solid aluminium to resist the 50,000 g centrifugal forces.[6]
[edit] Construction
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Engineers produced the scale model which was exhibited at the launch, and will integrate the engineering behind the car into its curriculum, working with design team, led by Mark Chapman. The car will be built at a site in Bristol.[7] The site will include an educational centre.[8] A full scale model was exhibited at the 2010 Farnborough International Airshow,[9] when it was announced that Hampson Industries would begin to build the rear of the car in the first quarter of 2011 and that a deal for the manufacture of the front of the car was due. Chief Engineer Mark Chapman says, "We would hope to be able to shake down the vehicle on a runway in the UK either at the end of 2012 or at the beginning of 2013."
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Supersonic car targets 1,000mph". BBC News. BBC. 22 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7685049.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
- ^ The Economist, "The land-speed record: How to build a 1,000mph car", 7 May 2011, p. 88.
- ^ Noble, Richard (1999). Thrust. London: Bantam Books. pp. 26. ISBN 0-553-81208-4.
- ^ "Swansea University help design BLOODHOUND SSC". Swansea University. http://www.swan.ac.uk/news_centre/LatestNews/Headline,28463,en.php. Retrieved 2008-10-23.[dead link]
- ^ "Swansea University Desert Selection Programme". Swansea University. http://www.bloodhoundssc.swan.ac.uk/geography/index.html. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
- ^ P Malone, Sunday Times 26 Oct 2008
- ^ "Supersonic Bloodhound car to be built in Bristol". BBC. 23 November 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8375365.stm. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
- ^ "Education". Bloodhound SSC. http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/education.cfm. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
- ^ Amos, Jonathan (19 July 2010). "Model of Bloodhound supersonic car unveiled". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10679543. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Andy Green's Bloodhound SSC diary for the BBC
- Bloodhound SSC at Swansea University
- Bloodhound SSC at the AoC (Association of Colleges) 2010 Annual Conference
- Amos, Jonathan (22 October 2008). "Supersonic car targets 1,000mph". BBC NEWS - Science & Environment (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7685049.stm. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- Semple, Ian (23 October 2008). "Faster than a bullet - the 1,000mph car". The Guardian (Guardian Newspapers). http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/23/motoring-land-speed-record. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
- Pavia, Will (23 October 2008). "Britain's Bloodhound car could reach 1,000mph". The Times Online (London: The Times). http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4996226.ece. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
- Piper, John (20 March 2009). "Unleash the Bloodhound: How to design a 1,000mph car". The Guardian (Guardian Newspapers). http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2009/mar/19/bloodhound-ssc-land-speed-record. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
- Bloodhound SSC vs Eurofighter Typhoon race (animation) on YouTube
- University of the West of England Project Launch Video
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