Buckminster Fuller on Chilling Machine

[Blair Wolfram]

Attached is a transcript of Bucky talking about the Chilling Machine.

Thx to Bonnie DeVarco for forwarding this a few years ago.

Blair

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Blair F. Wolfram
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[Dx G]

Quite an interesting read. Thanks for posting.

I remain rather curious about the "chilling machine" observations.  The smoke test is helpful in at least clearly establishing the direction of air flow.  Too bad we don't hear much about other things that day, like wind speeds, direction, humidity, pressures etc. that might tell us more about what is being observed, and more importantly, how to reproduce it, perhaps even amplify it, and what the constraints/limitations might be in an engineering or design context.

  In terms of explaining how it works (I believe Fuller was using phonetics when he referred to Pitot tubes)  there are several types of possible complications that concern me.  Perhaps none of these is happening, or, conversely, one or more

1) Coopting science

I read, with some interest, someone once explaining very carefully that boats are made of aluminum because aluminum floats.  Well, we have a saying in research, even a broken clock is right twice a day.  Sure, he's right. Aluminum boats float.  The truth is, this guy was confusing the density of a material, such as aluminum, that does not float, and the buoyancy of an object, like a boat.  This is not understanding of physics, this is a misunderstanding of physics dressed up as "scientific".

2) Over reliance on what we already believe

There are dozens of examples, going back hundreds of years, when important, new information was dismissed by the scientific/technical intelligencia of the day, simply because it conflicted with preconceived notions.  Science benefits when what is correct replaces what we've always believed, but is wrong, or at least subject to clarification.  There is an old German proverb, an old error is more popular than a new truth.

 Another really sad example is all the 9-11 rescuers who had to fight for decades to get help with their health problems, and too many died waiting. Why?  EPA and others were on the site with every known instrument available to access the air quality.  What nobody knew, was what happens when you expose building materials to ignited jet fuel.  It took years to finally nail down a contaminant no one knew to look for.  That is, glass vapor in the air from such an inferno.  It was there. Despite their best efforts, nobody knew look for it. You don't know what you don't know. 

3) Over reliance on what our senses tell us

As I have told people myself, what kind of an idiot believes the world is round? All you need to do is look at the horizon when the sun sets to see that it is flat.  Likewise, merely looking up at the sky would tell anyone with 2c worth of brains that it is the sun that revolves around the earth.  Its hard to believe that anyone would even propose anything to the contrary...isn't it.  :-)

4) Dismissal of personal insight and observation

Native people say they can "hear" the northern lights.  So sound scientists got out there with every known recording instrument, and picked up nothing. They said it was all in their heads. And they were right. It turns out there is a place in the human head where signals from the eyes get very close to the tissues that carry signals from ears to the brain.   Yes, they indeed can hear the northern lights, but its nothing our instruments will pick up in the range of sound normally detected by humans. 

Ok, I won't go on, perhaps readers get the point.  So, as I said, I'd really like to understand this "chilling machine" system better.  I don't care if it does conflict with long held beliefs and contradictions of physical laws as we currently understand them.  However, what this may be is something that does, in fact, make use of physical laws we already understand.  Either way, I'm not the least bit interested in who's right, but I would like to know more about what's right.  

Does anybody know how this really works?  How to design for it (specifically, when you fabricate a building), how to amplify it, when will it not work and why?   If we don't already know, I can see some ways to find out.

DxG

[Gerry in Quebec]

Thanks, Blair. Really fun to read Bucky's personal account of his experiences with the dome cooling  phenomenon and the Ghanaian origin of the term 'Chilling Machine'. In the mid-1980s I had the chance to visit that same institution, the University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, Ghana. One of the  university's "appropriate technology" projects at the time also had an airflow component -- the design of a vented latrine, which the S&T staff at the university dubbed "VIP Latrine", short for vented indirect pit latrine. Not sure whether any Ghanaian VIPs volunteered to test the prototype. But I recall that the new design did pass the smell test.

Cheers,

- Gerry

[Dx G]

Blair, perhaps you, or someone more familiar with what is known about the chilling machine, have some thoughts to share -

I've been looking at some of the popular wisdom concerning air flow in and around buildings, of several shapes and orientations.   Sure, this has been studied for decades in the modern era, centuries and millennia otherwise.  Some of this is in the literature on ventilation.

It appears to me that those air flows (both around the exterior surface and building interior) are sensitive to conditions - wind speed, solar radiation, temperatures, smooth vs. turbulent and many more. However, much of the information is understandable to even a casual reader.  It appears that any "chilling machine" that is not properly designed is going be rather inconsistent in performance.  The reasons it only works "sometimes" could be a real mystery to someone who does not understand some of those basics.  It would be a little like someone wondering why a spot in their yard is only in the shade "sometimes", when they are not aware of those particular basics.   

So when we read about how well it works, what do we know about the conditions that limit or enhance performance, or, what do we know about the factors that go into the design to make the system more resistant (or even immune?) to those limitations?   Seems to me understanding at least some of this prevents some wasted time/resources when building the most robust possible structure.   What's the old saying, there's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over?  :-)

DxG

[Blair Wolfram]

Excluding the Butler building in which Bucky discovered the chilling concept, I've only found two dedicated chilling machines have been built, both in Ghana.

No data exists I could find. Maybe details are buried in the Stanford Library.

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[Dx G]

I was hoping there was more out there to go on.  Any idea what cities/towns those units are in Ghana?   I see the one at the school.

 Looks like you were going full size on a trial.  I'm thinking a few scale models might allow one to apply a few different design scenarios, based on the published basics, and get more bang for the buck when it goes full scale. Next time I put up a dome shed, I might just try a few.  

DxG

[Curt McNamara]

Go for it DX! You have posted on this multiple times so we can tell you have strong interest.

Having thought about it, I am unsure at what level of scale a model would be useful. For example, it seems like a very small scale model might not have the same air flow characteristics. 

Searches on wind tunnel testing of domes yielded results related to strength. However it doesn't seem like the effect is related to external air speed.

The recent images did state that:

- a temperature reduction was measured.

- the dome surface was metal

- it didn't matter if the dome was insulated

- the air at the surface of a metal dome became super heated

-- this increased air velocity and the effect on air pulled through the opening.

     Curt

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[Dx G]

Thanks for the plug Curt.

I suspect you are partly correct about the model size.  However, the effect may still be scalable, even if its not linear.  That is to say, the effect on a half-size model may not be half, it may be a lot less.  So if its nonlinear, below a given size, it might be difficult, or impossible to detect.  I run into stuff like that all the time. Fortunately, physics sometimes provides the required scaling factors.

My interest, yes. When you look at the frequency, intensity and length of dangerous, or even lethal heat waves in places that never had them before, it is becoming more obvious all the time that we need better approaches to designing and building structures thal use less power to cool, save the occupant on utility bills (since energy costs are only going to rise), reduce the drain on the grid (community wise), and when the power does go out, your home doesn't turn into an oven like the buildings we have now.   The real key is make better use of passive strategies that were used hundreds or thousands of years ago, although now we have better materials and tools now to even improve upon those. 

You are also right that a lot of wind related design work relates to mechanical strength.  However, it never ceases to amaze me how little some industries know about the others.  The volume of work on air movement around shapes, and structures, is quite vast.    I think there are some good clues there, and I for one avoid discovering the past and reinventing the wheel, when possible. I've done some digging, but may need to turn in my shovel for a back hoe, as there may be gold in them-there-hills... :-)

DxG

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[Blair Wolfram]

I found a couple more pictures of the Ghana Chilling Machine, attached.

Blair

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[Pavel (Geosota)]

Is anyone know about dimensions of this Ghana aluminum dome? 

As I see this bottom vent windows have total area similar to 

dome floor area. And top vents is like 1/10 of it. Is it close to truth?

Thank you, Blair and all!

Pavel

///

10/09/2023 г. в 07:28:53 UTC+5:30, Blair Wolfram:

[Pavel Brayvo]

> As I see this bottom vent windows have total area similar to 

> dome floor area. 

Similar, but on second look ≈ 1/2 of it :) If the total floor area 

600 m² that area of bottom vents ≈ 300 m².

///

сб, 25 нояб. 2023 г. в 08:10, Pavel (Geosota) <bra...@gmail.com>:

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[Dx G]

Thanks to Ashok for posting this lead -

This book is downloadable from here:

(71) LIBRO R Buckminster Fuller Critical Path PDF | joel martin - Academia.edu

Another clue surfaces here about the presumed basis of the Chilling Machine concept.  See p.211.  You can add this to your library Blair if its not already there.   Also see page 82 of Domebook 2.

This is consistent with a few things I had dug up about this concept. It tells us more about how it might work in some environments, and under certain conditions, but will be less effective, or completely ineffective, in others.    -Dx G

[Young June Jeon]

Hello,

My name is Young June Jeon.

I'd like to introduce my concept of new idea of wind turbine from geodesic dome.

It is Icosahedron shape and It turns.

You can shave a look at my website 

http://geowind.kr

Thanks

2023년 9월 3일 (일) 오전 4:30, Blair Wolfram <thedo...@gmail.com>님이 작성:

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[Dx G]

Young June Jeon

 Very interesting configuration and concept.  Have you made any performance measurements on this icosahedral wind turbine concept and discovered any strengths it offers over other configurations?

  I would also be interested in how the interior sails are connected to the struts.

Dx G

[Levente Likhanecz]

hi,

how does your turbine "decide" rotational direction?

(feels like the upper 5 blades opposite setting to the lower 5 blades)

and what is mininimum windspeed to start up (m/s)

cheers, lev

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[Young June Jeon]

Hello!

I wanted to share an update about the wind turbine blade I've been developing. It's quite special because it performs well at low wind speeds and can handle high winds without any issues. It's pretty versatile when it comes to the range of wind speeds it can operate in, making it suitable for various conditions.

One interesting feature is that the direction of rotation can be reversed just by flipping the design upside down. I haven't completed fluid dynamics calculations yet, but I'm planning to work on that in the future.To test its structural integrity, I mounted it on the hood of my car and drove at 100 miles per hour on the highway. It was a bit of an indirect test, but the blade was incredibly sturdy. 

The icosahedron structure significantly contributes to its stability. This geometric design really helps in maintaining its strength.That's a quick update on what I've been working on. If you have any questions or need further information, feel free to reach out.

Young June Jeon

2024년 3월 30일 (토) 오후 2:55, Levente Likhanecz <likh...@gmail.com>님이 작성:

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[Bryan L]

Well done. It's an interesting use of the icosa structure. I will be interested to hear what the fluid dynamics results are and how it compares to other designs.

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[Ashok Mathur]

Dear5 All,

I have been trying to make a toy out of this to understand the design.

The toy is not finished as yet, but some ideas can be shared.

I made a standard icoshedron using 30 struts of bamboo of 6-inch length and 12 identical hubs. See attached photos. This stage needs no explanation.

I designated a hub as a top hub and fixed a large circular hook inside it.

Then I fixed circular hooks in the five verticies that are a level below the top hub.

Two sides of the blade can be attached to the bamboo struts. The third triangular side is attached to strings that have been incorporated between the hooks.

The blades are yet to be attached and another five strings have to be hooked for the second set of blades.

Regards

Ashok

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[Young June Jeon]

Dear Dx G

Thanks for reaching out and showing interest in our icosahedral wind turbine! It’s always great to hear from fellow enthusiasts.

To answer your question, we haven't yet done any formal performance measurements on a full-scale model. Our journey has started with smaller models to get a sense of how things work. We’ve been using materials like plastic straws for the struts and a mix of lightweight foam board and other materials for the sails. For assembly, tape has been our go-to for attaching sails to struts in the smaller versions, and for the slightly bigger ones, we’ve upgraded to bolts and nuts to keep everything together.

These early experiments are all about learning and tweaking. We haven’t gotten to the point of testing in extreme conditions or comparing our design to traditional ones in a detailed way. It’s still early days, and while we have lots of empirical data from what we’ve tried, there’s a plan to dive deeper with more structured testing as soon as we can manage the logistics and budget for it.

The goal is to eventually do some comprehensive testing in a lab setting to really see how our turbine stacks up against others. It’s a matter of getting the resources lined up for that step.

I appreciate your curiosity and the questions you’ve asked! We’re really excited about the potential here and are looking for ways to push the project forward. Let’s keep the conversation going and see where there might be opportunities to collaborate or learn from each other.

Best Regards,

Young June Jeon,

2024년 3월 29일 (금) 오전 10:49, Dx G <yipp...@gmail.com>님이 작성:

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[Dx G]

Young June Jeon

 Thanks for the background. As people on this list will tell you, I am a big proponent of testing models before launching off on expensive and time-consuming full-scale versions.  Let me share a few thoughts.

Unless you are already quite skilled in the discipline, you may find it useful to review the excellent resources available concerning wind turbine design.  For example:

 Wind Machines 1975 by Frank Eldridge
https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qadbu604N84AcvbXZBSGnOOgDo7qLeDFAi9aCHOwljA8jswCOJahYujxfMuTIDuqgrNg3yaTk4mg-x0QMpdygcdrAp-SgAYIxcCJStG4SGp1Y-X4Hu_49o76p_qadAPsraO_pniO-lAlfPSVQ42F5HuVk2IX2oOd9uzDCec_7Q88fH-1KxGkxf_TePPPVJbfHG9yWFOsBXqjT0gR56sLQTNHY6DWhpGDrsN3FRlpCYQMlECA-JXZ_BpDmigb_QnU81DyfXa2

Although there are more recent works, they often draw on older reviews like this. Reviewing these provide an improved understanding of the principles by which better performance can be achieved.  However, I realize you may already know this.

For making models, you may find that glue sticks (common in elementary school art classes) and hot-melt glue guns can expedite a lot of attachment issues. There are also some things like "removeable" caulking that stick things together very well but allows them to be separated later without damage and enables the reuse of materials.  

Another asset to this type of work would be the facility, rather than just the wind turbine.  In particular, if you have not already done it or considered it, making a wind tunnel large enough to at least accommodate your models could really help accelerate your work. This allows one to expose individual or groups of designs to conditions you can control as part of an experimental design, with replication, if desired. Although instrumentation is helpful, there are a lot of simple ways to make excellent, high resolution measurements inexpensively. For example, a simple U shaped tube with fluid can be used to measure differential pressure and therefore air velocity.  The bag of tricks on that is quite large, and yes, sure does help a lot when you need to contain your costs.  If all this is new to you, I can send additional references which may be helpful.    I look forward to your success.

Dx G

[Dx G]

A few items to add:

  learning from nature
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scotttravers/2024/03/28/how-earths-heaviest-bird-is-inspiring-scientists-to-build-better-wind-turbines/

 consider alternate configurations of the icosahedron or other polyhedra; panels don't have to be flat, for example:
https://mathworld.wolfram.com/TriakisIcosahedron.html
  The question is which factors in the configuration, dimensions, or other properties confer performance advantages that exceed any increases in cost, complexity, etc. 

 Non traditional approaches
https://o-innovations.com/o-wind-turbine#technology

Dx G

[Ashok Mathur]

Thanks for the links 

Ashok

Sent from my iPhone

On 6 Apr 2024, at 9:05 PM, Dx G <yipp...@gmail.com> wrote:

A few items to add:

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