Illustrations of the Friction Buffer Tapers

This is a fairly simple illustration of the problem that we start out with. The friction buffer concept was conceived of essentially within a cross-section of a gravity tube and the surrounding sheets. As the ends of the tube's hull is pinched, so must the friction buffer sheets as well. The problem comes down to how we manage the geometry of the sheets in this area, as well as how we make the moving connection.

Two solutions have presented themselves as relatively strong candidates for an ultimate solution. They both have a similar pattern to them. The sheets pinch in with both ideas, but in the "zero" solution they terminate against the next-inner-most sheet, while in the "nested" solution they terminate against the hull itself.

Here is a quick sketch of the taper-zero solution. Keep in mind that this is 1 quadrant of what is illustrated in the above problem sketch.

Here is a quick sketch of the taper-nested solution. The calculation for the connection points is different from the taper-zero, and this causes the connections to happen at small radii, and possibly face higher velocities at the connection points. An advantage is that connecting to the hull is probably easier, since it is a hard surface.

For the connections themselves, I envision a tensile tensioner acting at the end of the sheet in order to control the clearance and positioning of the sheet. This applies for both of the concepts.

Hope these were fun to look at. I'm not much of an artist, but since the hand-drawn sketch is a popular style these days, I figure "why not" and avoid the tedium of creating these on a computer.