thought I just had

Feb 16, 2006 11:19

if things like engine belts, etc, were made as mobius strips, would they last twice as long?

converse.

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Comments 6

jurph February 16 2006, 17:25:41 UTC
Probably not. The two (or more) pulleys in the system would have to handle only smooth parts of the strip, which means that the twist would have to be stationary with respect to them, or mobile with respect to the strip. This would add two kinds of fatigue that are not currently present:

1) The belt would have to undergo a half-twist along its whole length every revolution.

2) The belt would have to bend in both directions -- the same spot on the belt passing the same pulley would bend one way on even passes, and the other way on odd passes.

Also, you'd probably have to redesign the belt's cross-section, since most drive belts have a trapezoidal cross-section to help them maintain a grip on grooved wheels. I guess you could make them hexagonal in cross section, and only introduce 1/6 of a twist...

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ineptsleep February 16 2006, 17:31:17 UTC
you're so great.

I was just being obnoxious, and you showed me WAY up.

now, how would you go about introducing only 1/6 of a twist?

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jurph February 16 2006, 18:14:15 UTC
Simple! The short answer is: just like you'd do it with a piece of paper -- instead of rotating 180 degrees and taping, you rotate 60 degrees and glue it. It's got a hexagonal cross section, so the faces should still match up ( ... )

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ineptsleep February 16 2006, 18:20:33 UTC
ahhh! a cylindrical belt!

i was thinking flat belt only.

genius.

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longfeat February 16 2006, 17:31:19 UTC
I am emphatically not an engineer, but I think this thread of thinking is hot. Please continue ...

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ex_portables827 February 16 2006, 18:28:07 UTC
all of these people are wrong.
they would last infinitely long.

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