Engineers working on the 1600 km/h Bloodhound supersonic car (SSC) and motion control experts at Parker Hannifin have revealed a closer look at the vehicle’s airbrake system. Product sponsor, Parker is supplying advanced equipment to operate Bloodhound’s airbrake doors, store backup hydraulic power and assist vehicle stability. This includes cylinders, manifold blocks and winglet controls.
To slow Bloodhound SSC from 1200 km/h and below, driver Andy Green will press a button on his 3D printed titanium steering wheel to operate the twin Parker linear actuators (cylinders). These cylinders will push the airbrake doors open into the airflow, carrying a load of five tons per door and increasing the drag on the car – slowing it at 3G deceleration, equal to losing 96 km/h per second. As Andy says: “It will be uncomfortable – most people would call this a crash.”
The metre-square doors are manufactured from carbon fibre and aluminium by URT Group, with material from SHD and Sigmatex. The Parker cylinders can exert a force of seven tons as they open the 28 kg doors out into the airflow.
Parker is also supplying two composite piston accumulators – an emerging technology applied in controlled environments but not yet widely available in the general marketplace.
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