Grimer wrote:I don't think I can constructively comment on the rest of your post until you have exorcised the notion of stress (force per unit area) and replaced it with the concept of natural strain.
Hey thanks Grimer - I realise now that I was using the word 'stress' as a layman, not realising that Stress & Strain are defined words in physics. I'm trying to get up to speed with the proper terminology.
As a newbie to Continuum Mechanics, is it fair to say that:
Stress is the reaction of a material to an external force expressed as force per square area. and is therefore very similar to Pressure?
Strain is the measure of geometrical deformation of the material - dimensionless - e.g. percentage deformation?
For example: could we Strain a rubber ball to 50% of it's original size - and measure the Stress in kiloPascals? (Please don't lecture me on stretch, logarithmic strain, Green strain, and Almansi strain... my brain hurts already)
This stuff is extremely relevant to what we are trying to achieve - so thank you for bringing this up.
I've also looked at the Buzzsaw Wheel and figured that it probably is the Bessler principle re-invented, and that impact seems to be a factor in both. I have a line of inquiry i'm investigating, but don't wish to discuss yet. Most likely my complete ignorance of much of modern physics means I don't have a show - but maybe i'm just stupid enough not to realise it 'can't be done' and do it anyway ...