Re: any limits on mechanical seals?

I've been doing some work on seals around a 2mm shaft, and these are
watertight no problem. It could be scaled up, but the rubber component
would need to slide across a totally flat ceramic plate, which may be
problematic on a larger scale.

In general, if you can keep your corridor as narrow as possible, this
helps. You have two further problems not yet raised in this group:

1. You will need bearings further out from the seal to handle bending
moments. All the seal designs need to be kept stationary (except in
rotation) but provide limited support for bending moments. It would be
difficult to provide for bending on seal, so bearings need to ensure
that no bending moment is applied to it.

2. As well as people, you need to transfer fluids (water, air in,
carbon dioxide out), and electricity, and data. Data can probably done
with laser links between the two sections. Electricity with very large
commutators. Fluids are difficult. It could be that in the centre of
the corridor is a fluid pipe with its own seals. Indeed, it could be a
pipe (water) within a pipe (CO2) within a pipe (air/oxygen) within a
pipe (people).

Given all above, it might make sense to limit the apperture to, say, 8m
diameter. This still allows 1000s of people per hour to transfer. Large
objects could be left to air locks.

If you go to a very large structure, with a million people or so, with
10,000s tranferring per hour, you can have a radial "train" that
matches speed with the cylinder, and transfers people and cargo. Then
it matches speed with the stationary bit and does the same. This would
surround the "light axis" (where light enter) and so have a diameter of
about 1km, making it 3km long, and so capable of carrying several
thousand passenger. Fluids would be transferred as cargos.

.

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