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Conference noted::bicycle

Title: Bicycling
Notice:Bicycling for Fun
Moderator:JAMIN::WASSER
Created:Mon Apr 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3214
Total number of notes:31946

1856.0. "Wouldn't it be great - no more flats" by ROSSIN::WAGNER () Wed Feb 27 1991 15:26

I came across the attached and began fantasizing about the prospects of a 
joint venture between General Dynamics and Vittoria.

Jim

VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH:                           [Mike Taylor, VNS Correspondent]
=====================                           [Littleton, MA, USA            ]

                               Tougher Rubber

    Rubber molecules in standard types of rubber are like strands of
    spaghetti loosely held together by links between sulfur atoms,
    explains Joseph Silverman a professor of materials and nuclear
    engineering at the University of Maryland. Silverman, however,
    wanted to skip the normal method of curing rubber with sulfur and
    create a stronger link between the strands by bombarding the
    material with electrons. The result surpassed his expectations. In 
    US Army tests the material lasted far longer than the old material
    used in rubber pads on tank treads. "We had more rubber on our pads
    at 2,000 miles than the standard pad had at 500 miles," says
    Silverman, who received funding from the Army. The material also
    resisted damage from rubber's number 1 enemy: ozone. It did so well
    that Army technicians thought there testing device had broken.
    General Dynamic Corp. has an exclusive option with the university to
    explore uses for the rubber.
    {Business Week February 11, 1991}

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1856.1Hard tires for Hard ridingDPDMAI::SMITHThe Solitary CyclistThu Feb 28 1991 01:436
    It might make flat-proof tires, but it sounds like it's going to have
    such a high elastic modulus it's going to make track tire pumped up to
    165 psi feel smooth as glass by comparison. But they'll sure last a
    long time.
    
    GS
1856.2Radiation Dynamics, Inc.USWAV7::CLELANDWhy, I oughta...Thu Feb 28 1991 06:0540
    	Actually, this sort of thing has already been explored...
    
    	There are two companies in the US, perhaps only one now, which
    	already are doing this.
    
    	Radiation Dynamics Inc., located on Long Island, N.Y. has been
    	manufacturing high voltage electron beam accelerators since the
    	1960's. The other company, High Voltage Engineering, which was
    	located across RT 128 from the Burlington mall (or the building
    	still is anyway), also manufactured electron beam accelerators.
    
    	I don't know if High Voltage is still in business, but RDI still
    	is, and they've recently just moved to another site on Long Island.
    	Their accelerators are currently producing the highest voltages
    	in the business, and are being marketed worldwide.
    
    	These machines are used for a variety of applications, one of
    	which is the vulcanization of rubber. They've been placing rubber
    	in the path of the electrons for a few years now, and I believe
    	the military have been watching ever since they first got word.
    
    	These machines also have many medical applications, but mostly
    	they are currently used for the irradiation of non-metallic
    	medical supplies. Band-aids for example. This process has great
    	potential, especially for sterilization.
    
    	The most promising application, (lucrative?) is food treatment.
    	The military has been using irradiated food, with much success.
    	The process poses no threat to the potential consumer of the
    	irradiated foods, and greatly increases shelf life.
    
    	The tires of the future most likely will be treated by electron
    	beam bombardment, hopefully...
    
    	P.S. My dad helped start RDI, he built his first accelerator
    	     in the basement of a small house in St. Louis, before
    	     packing up and heading for New York. And no, this isn't
    	     a joke, everything I said is true, you can research it...
    
    							Regards, Face
1856.3RUTILE::MACFADYENThe Third Pint SyndromeFri Mar 01 1991 08:3427
    Re .1: Surely most spring in a tyre comes from the air inside it?
    I would have thought that the biggest worry about super-hard-wearing
    rubber would concern loss of traction. Look at motor car racing tyres
    which are ultra-grippy by being ultra-soft, and wear out after one race
    or less.
    
    
>            <<< Note 1856.2 by USWAV7::CLELAND "Why, I oughta..." >>>
>                         -< Radiation Dynamics, Inc. >-
>
>    	The most promising application, (lucrative?) is food treatment.
>    	The military has been using irradiated food, with much success.
>    	The process poses no threat to the potential consumer of the
>    	irradiated foods, and greatly increases shelf life.
    
    In the UK at least, food irradiation is quite controversial! The worry
    is that unscrupulous food wholesalers will irradiate food that's past
    its sell-by date, then resell it as 'safe'. While it may well have very
    low bacteria levels, the previous high level of bacteria may have left
    behind chemical toxins that were unaffected by the radiation. I think
    that in the UK irradiation has still not been passed as a safe method
    of preserving food.
    
    
    Rod