On Jun 2, 2007, at 8:43 AM, Michel Jullian wrote:
The stator wire tips are oriented radially. Their ion wind is
oriented radially. The field of the balls deflects that radial wind
towards themselves. That deflection is clockwise as viewed from the
top, for the device in the first photos of the web site.
It should deflect the radial flow from the axis stator
wires tangentially toward the front of the balls. I'm thinking here
in terms of the first device, which had what I call the "stator
wires", or corona wires, arrayed radially around the shaft at the
same level as the balls. The ion flow from those wires, even in the
complete absence of the rotor, should be radial.
Without the rotor, leaving just its supporting and HV connecting
spindle as the HV electrode (eg with a conductive ball on it so it
doesn't emit), the ion wind from a stator emitter will form a loop
in a radial plane, I guess that's what you mean by radial wind?
Yes the above is correct in that I think when the balls are missing
there is a circular air flow, a couple of counter-flowing doughnuts
of air flow tangent in the plane of the balls, i.e. the plane of the
stator wire tips of the first tested gadget on the web site.
However, I meant looking at it in the plane orthogonal to the spindle
at the level of the balls the ion flow is outward radially when no
balls are present. When the balls are present they deflect this ion
flow tangentially, giving a vortex flow in that plane - at least
that's my contention.
Kyle kindly proposed to do some more tests, a smoke test with the
rotor blocked and another one without the rotor (and its spindle
bluntes) would be quite instructive!
Should be interesting. I'm off for while to do mundane things ...
Regards,
Horace Heffner
