Special Hazards

Alloy 158 will require special handling by the test team. During the flight the alloy will not be handled at all. After each ball is made and frozen, it will fall into the funnel at the bottom of the tube and be deposited into its unique receptacle on a rotating collecting wheel under the funnel. After this, the wheel is turned to the next unique position for collection of the next ball. This process will allow the production and collection of all the balls without direct contact.

Fluid Requirements

Alloy 158 consisting of 50% Bi, 26.7% Pb, 13.3% Sn, and 10% Cd will be brought to a liquid state by raising its temperature to between 159-165F. Since its melting temperature is 158F, it should only be in liquid form while inside the syringe and for just a few seconds after being dispensed into the heat resistant acrylic tube. The syringe volume will be 48.26cm3, or about 3in3. Preliminary calculations estimate the cool time for a large ball of alloy 158 at 7 seconds if dispensed at the highest temperature of 165°F.

Equipment List

Equipment to be taken on board the aircraft: Test assembly described above Small duffel bag for tools 2 Screwdrivers (flat head and Phillips) Goggles for each team member Camcorder

Structural Analysis

The syringe will weigh 3 pounds or less, the acrylic tube with the attached box enclosing the syringe will weigh 4 pounds or less and the camcorder will weigh less than 10 pounds, totaling a maximum of 17 pounds at G. For 9G, the structure will easily support greater than the 153 pounds of force in all directions. Furthermore, the syringe and its containment box will be bolted to the tube. The variac, the camcorder and the kill switch will all be bolted to the frame.

To more thoroughly address the issue of structural analysis, the team will perform pull tests once our equipment is built and on-site in our lab.

Electrical Analysis

Electrical System

A variac will be used to vary the AC voltage on the nichrome wire to obtain the correct temperature to just melt the alloy. It will require 115V AC at 60Hz on the ground and in-flight. The nichrome wire provides enough resistance to the current to produce heat. With the wire wound around the syringe, the temperature attained is a function of the length of the wire and the setting on the variac. The exact length of the wire will be determined when all equipment is built and on-site. Adjustment of the variac will allow for fine-tuning the temperature during flight.

The camcorder will be battery powered and will not require power from the aircraft.