Heat Engines; Magnetic Curie Effect, Nitinol & Bimetal
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Curie Effect Heat Engine
Explore the properties of Ferromagnetism and Curie points with this Curie Effect Heat Engine. Kit Includes:
- Nickel Curie effect enhanced wire (part of aluminum wire assembly)
- 1.5" Aluminum Wire Assembly
- Neodymium Disc Magnet 1"Diamter x 3/16" Thick
- Birthday Candle
- Brass Machine Screw & Nuts
- Wooden Side .75" x 4" x .25"
- Base 1.25" x 2" x .5"
- Steel Plate 1.25" x 3" x .032"
Construction Booklet (pdf 74K)
Video File 1 Heat Engine Test:Hi Res (544 Kb) Lo Res (208 Kb)
Video File 2 Heat Engine Running:Hi Res (1.5 Mb)Lo Res (488 Kb)
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Nitinol Heat Engine Kit |
See
the Heat Engine in action!
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Nitinol Heat Engine -
powered by hot and cold water.
The Heat Engineis a very special kind of heat engine that demonstrates
the conversion of heat energy into mechanical energy. Based upon the
work of Dr. Alfred Johnson who was granted a patent on this type of heat engine in 1977 patent # 4,055,955.
It uses the unique property of Nitinol alloy to generate mechanical
motion from heat. Nitinol has trained into a shape at high temperature
(about 600° C) and allowed to cool to room temperature, where it can
be easily deformed and welded into a loop.
When heated above a transition temperature (in this application about
50° C to 70° C) the Nitinol object abruptly returns to its high-temperature
shape with a substantial force that is able to drive the pulleys and
thus create motion.
More Information
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Nitinol Heat Engine $49.95
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Bimetal Heat Engine SeeSaw Kit |
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BiMetal Heat Engine
The spiral spring is the engine of the see-saw. It is made of a bimetal, two metals, which expand differently when heated.
The spiral spring twists over the candel and moves the sphereical weight to the other side. Causing the see-sae to tip to the other side.
The pulls the spiral spring away from the heat, causing the bimetal to cool and contract. When the spiral spring contracts it swings the weight causing the see-saw to tip to its original position, where the cycle repeats.
Video 1: SeeSaw Engine Running (6 Mb)
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Components for Curie Heat Engine
Brass Candle Accessory for Heat Engine |
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Replace the birthday candle on your magnetic heat engine with this brass candle that does not burn down like a wax candle. Simply fuel with alcohol and let it burn. Be careful, once lit candle becomes very hot.
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