SGL Carbon has supported students at the Technical University of Munich to develop a prototype pod for the Hyperloop transport system.
In 2018, the university launched a pod which 2018 which flew through the 1,200 m test tube at a velocity of 467 km/h. This year, the focus is on speed and stability. To expedite this, the team chose woven carbon fiber prepreg material with mounts for the shell built completely out of carbon, cutting the weight in half from 1.5 kilograms to 700 grams.
In all, the carbon component of the current pod weights around 10% less than the previous model (5.6 kilograms compared to 6.1 kilograms).
The next Hyperloop competition takes place on 21 July 2019, in Los Angeles, USA.
This story uses material from SGL Carbon, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
