Starting with the last century, a lot of enthusiastic researchers have invested significant time and energy in proposing various drives capable to generate linear propulsion force. Regrettably, only a few of these devices passed the patent phase and have been practically materialized. The aim of this paper was to simulate the dynamic behavior of an inertial propulsion drive (IPD) developed by the authors, to demonstrate its functionality. The core of the IPD consists of two symmetric drivers that each performs rotation of eight steel balls on an eccentric path. We propose three solutions for the element which maintain the off-center trajectory of the balls. For the simulation, we used the multibody system approach and determine the evolution of the displacement, velocity, and power consumption. Further, we analyze the collisions between the elements of the system and the influence of this phenomenon on the dynamic behavior of the IPD. We found that collisions generate impact forces which affect the ball acceleration values achieved by simulation. We have concluded that the developed system is capable to generate linear movement. In addition, in terms of velocity and power consumption, the best constructive version of the retaining disk is that which has a cylindrical inner bore placed eccentric relative to the rotation center of the balls.
Development of an inertial propulsion drive by using motion simulation
