So I was thinking earlier about doing a hybrid conversion to my 4WD, as a bit of a project.
Then I thought to myself, why not disconnect the engine from the drivetrain entirely, and have it run only to charge the batteries, allowing me to run just electric engines to the wheels.
This made me think of the old Porsche hybrid electric tanks, and now I'm wondering if it's possible to add tracks to a car without totally ruining the bodywork?
google mattracks
and yes, its possible
Connect the engine to a pump that pressurizes a hydraulic system. Put a variable geometry impeller in each wheel hub, that can control how much power goes to each wheel individually, and can perform regenerative braking by repressurizing the system on overrun. This has the advantage of being capable of full lockup, so you don't need friction brakes like with an electric hybrid. You also won't need a parking brake. The engine can be set to operate in three states: idle, max efficiency, and max power, and no electric starter is required.
That looks pretty cool, I was thinking more along the lines of one track per side, then painting it with Jap tank camo.
Would the hydraulic system be more efficient than an electric setup, though?
And the reason I was looking into hybrid electric in the first place was so that I could add more power to the car, since the 4D56T isn't really an engine with a lot of grunt - it doesn't sound like a hydraulic system could add any more power.
Yes, generators are very inefficient, especially tiny car-sized ones.
I could potentially run an electric generator off of the hydraulic loop, with a pressure regulator sending excess fluid pressure through the generator's impeller, such as in regenerative braking, or when the engine is pumping more fluid than the system needs.
If I had hydraulics running the front drive wheels, then the rear drive wheels could be driven by electric motors for that instant acceleration.
You just stick the tracks onto the suspension mounts, and attach the drivetrain to them.
inb4 none of any of this is done ever by OP or anyone else on Veeky Forums
Nigga, you need to stick a turbine in there and pull out the piston engine. That's the way to go. I wonder how much power an APU from a commercial airliner puts out...
Pretty much goes without saying. If you're bothering to ask Veeky Forums you probably have no idea what you're doing.
>meanwhile in Russia
I don't think you understand. The pressure in the hydraulic system *is* a battery. You can use the engine to charge the system with pressure while the vehicle is at rest, and then dump that pressure through the impellers even if the engine is no longer running. It's a better system than electrics; it's what they use on stuff like tanks, helicopters, and monster mining equipment like pic related. The only reason it isn't used in passenger cars is because it doesn't play well with passenger car maintenance intervals. If you get a pinhole leak somewhere, you end up with a jet of hydraulic fluid at 6000+ PSI that can literally cut you in half.
How the hell can you compress the fluid? I understand air, but hydraulics are used specifically because fluid doesn't compress and cause a delay like pneumatic systems do.
I still vote APU out of an airplane.
This
You can't thats why they use fluid...?
So what the hell is being compressed that pushes back when the power is needed?
Because like air, you could just keep compressing it into a storage tank and that is stored potential energy when needed, right? But you can't compress fluids like that.
I'm not tryin to disagree, genuinely curious about how this works.
Hydraulic system. All the way.
I may be biased because I'm a heavy equipment operator,
But parts will be faaaaaar more available.
Not that user, but i drive heavy equip for work
You cant pressurise fluid, but most of these systems are diesel electric meaning that they charge batteries that power the pumps.
However these batteries could only power the machine with no engine for a couple minutes maybe. Its mainly for storing extra power for super strenuous movements and hard lifts.
The voltages that some hydraulic pumps suck is crazy, and the pumps themselves are very expensive, setting up your own hydraulics without specific training would be incredibly difficult
This makes complete sense. But other user said the hydraulic pressure *is* the battery which makes no sense. You can't just pressurize fluid like air with an air compressor.
Sounds similar to the setup I was envisaging, then.
What kind of equipment uses steerable hydraulics, just any old bulldozer?
Bulldozers/diggers etc have a motor per track, and they use a lever each to turn those motors
>motor per track
As in, each track is powered by a separate diesel engine, or a hydraulic motor?
Hydraulic motor.
Although some really, really, really big diggers have multiple diesel engines
Ah, cool. Any idea what kind of speed limit those bulldozers can hit? I know that real tanks have a hard time getting above 60 km/h, but that would probably be enough for fucking around in and going offroad.
probably 5km/h
My dad's digger can only go 2km/h
Remember though, bulldozers are about pushing power and efficiency and saving $$ (fuel etc)
Tanks are paid for with other peoples money (tax payer dollars) which is why they have 1200hp engines and huge hydraulic motors to go fast and maneuver
Just go with the Porsche Tiger style hybrid-electric drive.
I think you'll find tanks aren't powered by hydraulic motors at all, but are generally direct drive like Dozers from decades ago. A hydraulic motor would not be able to sustain such thermal loads with any meaningful torque at that speed.
These days CAT dozers are electric drive as mentioned earlier, a motor on each track. A lot are still a direct drive though. Hydraulic drives can create a lot of breakout force but are usually limited to low speed machinery.
If you've ever watched the old show "Scrapheap Challenge", most improvised track set ups where made with the direct drive method with an open wheel diff that would be individually braked on each side.
Fluid can be pressurized (imagine your garden hose with a little nozzle on the end) but not compressed. When operating hydraulic equipment the lines are pressurized and will stay that way even when the motor is shut off. That's how a crane for example will stay up even if the engine quits. There would be some, probably small, amount of potential energy in the pressurized lines.
Not really. With the garden hose and shit, it is because the water pressure expanded whatever vessel it was in. If you fill up a sealed steel tank and just keep trying to pump water in at 100s and 1000s of PSI, it will stretch the tank slightly like a ballon and any pressure there results from the tank trying to shrink back to normal size.
And with the crane or even a hydraulic jack, it stays in place because the liquid can't be compressed. user was talking about the hydraulic fluids holding energy just like a battery and it makes no damn sense when explained like that.
While everyone else is building tanks and talking about fluid dynamics (water hose) and basic hydraulics I think ill help an user out.
Its strictly because of weight.
-A engine weighs so much
-A engine > generator > converter > batteries > Motor + all wiring = A lot more weight
Your much better off just going with a diesel with a drive train. For road legal purposes ofc. But you can also build a tank if you want a tank as stated above.
/thread
In conclusion. Hybrid supercars are killing it in numbers atm. But this is due to regenerative braking, endless pockets of money, very light materials and batteries
That is all. good night.
You don't compress it, you pressurize it. As you force fluid into a cylinder that contains a gas separated from the fluid by a diaphragm, the fluid displaces the gas, which then exerts pressure on the fluid.
Come on, this is some basic physics shit. Please go back to 7th grade.