TRANSPORTATION

Exploring Our World –Humans have needed transportation since the first man walked the earth –Around 3500 BC the wheel was invented in Middle east –Horses, horse-drawn wagons were the early form of transportation –By late 1400s boat were used by Phoenicians and Scandinavians for exploration –Steam engine came into used during industrial revolution –Today ---- we have SST (supersonic transport) Concorde –Entering a new age of space exploration

WORLD: A Global Village –Fast & cheap transportation has brought people and their culture closer to others –Transportation technology has made Tourism possible –People must commute or travel on a regular basis to get to work –Suburbs have grown around cities

Recourses for Transportation  Energy –Earlier form uses wind, human or animal power etc. … Now its Internal Combustion engine using gasoline or electrical motors using electricity with Transmission or drive  People  Information –Design of transportation sys., Information about Road signs, routes, communication systems  Materials –Composites and advanced materials are extensively used now a days  Tools and Machines –Support and maintenance equipment  Capital –Building ports, airports, roadways and cars, airplanes are costly  Time –Travel time depends on distance and technology… Mass transit, Airline scheduling etc.

Types of Transportation Systems  Transportation systems are alike in some senses and different in another –One carry people (cars, airplanes) other carry goods (oil pipe line, conveyors etc.)  Subsystems: –Various subsystems can be joined together to form different systems e.g., diesel engine and floating hull can be put together to form a boat

Land Transportation –Steam powered vehicles  Nicolos-Joseph in 1769 first made a vehicle powered by steam engine  First railroad to use steam was opened in England in 1830  The engine used to pull the train up to 30 miles/hour carrying both people and cargo.  The railroad network sprang during this period in USA also.  See page 431– Steam engine  By late 1800s train speeds reached 100 miles/hour –Gasoline powered vehicle  In 1876 Nickolas Otto invented the internal combustion engine based on gasoline. Chapter 14

Land Transportation –Diesel Powered Vehicles  Diesel engine came around early 1900s  Similar to gasoline except for the spark plugs –Electric Vehicles  The concept of electric car is as old as steam engines (1839)  Main problem with electric cars is the low battery storage  Electric powered train use electrical lines to get power supply

Water Transportation  People have always traveled on streams, rivers and lakes. –What makes a boat float  Buoyancy (force pushing submerged objects upwards)  Buoyancy is equal to the weight of the water displaced by the water  If Buoyancy is equal to weight of the object, it will float on water… –Steam Powered ships  In 1807, Robert Fulton build a ship powered by steam… The Clermont –Modern Ships  Better hull design and engines made the ships faster.  In 1952 S.S. United States took only 3 days, 10 hours and forty minutes to cross the Atlantic  Ship passenger travel has decreased over the years  However, ships still carry the most intercontinental freights from automobiles to Bananas

Water Transportation –Submersibles  Submersibles or submarines can operate on or under water because they can change their buoyancy.  This is done filling in or out water into tanks  These submarine need withstand huge power  at 33 feet water exerts 14.7 lbs/in  at 66 feet water exerts 29.4 lbs/in (doubled) –Hydrofoil and air cushion vehicles  Hydrofoils or air cushion vehicles (ACVs) are the vehicles that raises up in the water as it goes faster, reducing water resistance as a result.  ACVs uses large fans to air under the boat lifting it on a cusion of air