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AlexanderHowl · 05-12-2018, 08:32 AM

You can construct vacuum bubbles from modern steel alloys, the problem is the expense of constructing a vacuum facility large enough to produce the steel alloy bubble in a vacuum. Paradoxically, it is only affordable at TL9+, when you can use LEO production techniques to construct steel alloy bubbles in the vacuum of space (the steel also benefits from the lack of atmospheric contamination and gravitational defects).

The key thing is to reduce the density to 178.5 grams per cubic meter. A 10 m radius sphere possesses a volume of 4,188.8 cubic meters, meaning that your mass budget is 747.7 kilograms, or 545 grams per square meter, which is tin foil thickness. Your only choice is to go bigger. A 1 km radius sphere can afford 59.5 kg per square meter, which is 7.4 mm, which is sufficient for submarines Of course, more advanced materials could do it better, but you would probably need an advanced metallic laminate to create a vacuum bubble small enough for an airship.

05-12-2018, 08:32 AM	#20
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: Why Dirigibles? You can construct vacuum bubbles from modern steel alloys, the problem is the expense of constructing a vacuum facility large enough to produce the steel alloy bubble in a vacuum. Paradoxically, it is only affordable at TL9+, when you can use LEO production techniques to construct steel alloy bubbles in the vacuum of space (the steel also benefits from the lack of atmospheric contamination and gravitational defects). The key thing is to reduce the density to 178.5 grams per cubic meter. A 10 m radius sphere possesses a volume of 4,188.8 cubic meters, meaning that your mass budget is 747.7 kilograms, or 545 grams per square meter, which is tin foil thickness. Your only choice is to go bigger. A 1 km radius sphere can afford 59.5 kg per square meter, which is 7.4 mm, which is sufficient for submarines Of course, more advanced materials could do it better, but you would probably need an advanced metallic laminate to create a vacuum bubble small enough for an airship.