Vacuum tunnel

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A vacuum tunnel describes a tunnel in which there is a low air pressure by pumping out air, i.e. at least an approximate vacuum .

Application in practice

If vehicles were to be moved in a vacuum tunnel, a higher speed is possible with the same expenditure of energy, since the air resistance , which increases quadratically with the speed, would be lower. Likewise, the large tube diameters of current high-speed rail tunnels would not be required, which are required to push the displaced air not only in front of the train.

No practical applications of this concept have yet been implemented. Consideration was given to using it in combination with magnetic levitation technology for Swissmetro .

Implementation concept

Hyperloop is a concept that tries to move a magnetic levitation train inside a vacuum tunnel. Elon Musk , who is already known from Tesla and SpaceX , published a white paper in 2013 in which he presented the project and explained his ideas for implementation. The company Hyperloop One is working on the practical implementation of the concept.

Individual evidence

  1. Hyperloop Alpha White Paper. In: SpaceX . August 2013, accessed on September 21, 2017 .
  2. ^ Elon Musk plans to build his own hyperloop technology for his Boring Company's tunnel projects . In: Electrek . August 4, 2017 ( electrek.co [accessed September 21, 2017]).
  3. Elon Musk Reveals The Hyperloop . In: Business Insider . ( businessinsider.com [accessed September 21, 2017]).