Does the material choice and material thickness for the hot and cold
plates effect the performance of a LTD Stirling. Would copper work
better than aluminum of the same thickness? For the same material is
thinner better assuming it is sufficiently strong and stiff?
Hot and cold plate material
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stan.hornbaker
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Response to Hot and cold plate material
Material selection for building a single LTD SE would depend more on availability than what would be best for mass production. Hard grade machinable aluminum in reasonable 1/8" to 1/4" thicknesses would be useable.
My guess is 3/16" would be optimum. Thicker H & C plates would take longer to come to steady state running temperatures, and the engine would run longer when the heat source is removed.
Graphite piston and glass cylinder sets as well as small ball bearings are available from www. sourches.
My guess is 3/16" would be optimum. Thicker H & C plates would take longer to come to steady state running temperatures, and the engine would run longer when the heat source is removed.
Graphite piston and glass cylinder sets as well as small ball bearings are available from www. sourches.