Infinitesimal bearing
With the availability of Advanced atomically precise technology (APM) it no longer makes sense to build conventional roller-bearings in which macroscopic speed differences meet at nanoscale contacts.
Instead advanced APM technology allows to build a new type of macroscopic bearings that spreads macroscopic speed differences over many layers (a passive mechanical metamaterial) such that at nanoscale contacts only nanoscale-typical speed differences remain. Paired with the flawless gemstone surfaces of crystolecule gears those metamaterial bearings become for all practical purposes wear free.
Contents
Details
To reduce the relative speed of two surfaces one can doos many layers with minimal thickness onto each other. Each of those layers is un-percievably small - thus the "infinitesimal" in the name. The layers are just thick enough to accommodate the necessary nano-mechanics. These nanomechanics are crystolecule gears (not roller bearings) and further structure that makes sure that every layer takes the same part of the total speed difference. Note that due to superlubrication a single layer can take well perceivable macroscopic speeds without being destroyed thus bearings replacing todays macroscopic ones will need to use only a very thin stack of infinitesimal bearing layers (often the whole layer stack might be less than 32µm thick and thus as goos as imperceptible by eye). Since there's no static friction and very low speed dependent dynamic friction in diamondoid nanomechanics (see superlubrication) the bearings efficiency can be expected to be exceptional.
It is still to investigate how a macroscopic infinitesimal bearing will perform relative to nanoscopic DMME bearing and for a more intuitive feel for the performance how long an infinitesimal brearing of certain size would turn till it e.g. reaches half its initial speed.
As in all products of advanced nanosystems the nanomechanics must (through their structure) provide some redundancy.
This makes the design of a bearing metamaterial more complicated
[TODO add more detailed Model]
(TODO: Design and testprint a macroscopic model structure for demonstration.)
Cheating on a scaling law
When the total speed difference that the bearing is supporting is kept constant the power dissipation per volume scales with size:
- linearly with mono-layer sleeve bearings (note that here the whole power dissipation is concentrated on a single layer in the considered volume)
- quadratic with infinitesimal bearings
{todo|Add the math in detail.}
Scaling only one dimension (bearing thickness)
Doubling the number of layers
- halves the speed which quaters the dynamic friction (P ~ v2) (v->v/2 => P->P/4)
- doubles the surface area which doubles friction (P ~ A) (A->2A => P-> 2P)
- thus in combination it halves friction (v->v/2 && A->2A => P->P/2)
Related AP metamaterials
Adding chemomechanical or electromechanical motors into the layers changes it into an interfacial drive (an active metamaterial). There the add-up of layer movement acts as one of the methods to accumulate nano motion to macroscopic levels (mechanical macroscopification).
Misc
Infinitesimal bearings enforce a fixes speed relationship between layers. Thus they can can be used for mechanical advantage (a transmission).
Depending on the deformation and closing topology of the bearing layers with nanoscale thickness various kinds of bearings can be made:
- normal radial bearings
- axial thrust bearings
- conical bearings
- linear prismatic sliding bearings
- heavily deformed bearings (gemstone nano-layers are highly flexible)
- ...
