Changa
Mega Poster
Hi all, I am currently live on the scene at PA with a question: Does anyone know why Dragon Khan has such narrow support connectors?
It seems to be only for the strictly vertical supporting connectors, as the side-mounted connectors, and some of the laterally braced vertical supports have the typical rectangular-faced connectors. Shambhala behind seems to have none of these connectors either. So, what are they for?
As a mechanical graduate, therefore highly-qualified armchair coaster designer*, I couldn't think of a good explanation for this. My 2 theories are:
1) These are the equivalent of "roller" connectors. No lateral constraintnis applied, and therefore offer a lot of room for misalignment. This seems unlikely, as B&M were very accomplished by this point, and could achieve precise support connections throughout the rest of the ride.
2) These are connecting through dampeners to reduce track vibrations for comfort and longevity's sakes. The small connection point would still be questionable given it would therefore be subjected to some lateral force, but that could be distributed to the wider support column through a beefy endplate, and vertical forces can be supported all the same.
If anyone has an answer or is better informed to speculate, I'd love to know more!
(* My qualifications are RCT2,3 NL1 AND NL2. I reckon it's a stacked CV, right Merlin?.....)
It seems to be only for the strictly vertical supporting connectors, as the side-mounted connectors, and some of the laterally braced vertical supports have the typical rectangular-faced connectors. Shambhala behind seems to have none of these connectors either. So, what are they for?
As a mechanical graduate, therefore highly-qualified armchair coaster designer*, I couldn't think of a good explanation for this. My 2 theories are:
1) These are the equivalent of "roller" connectors. No lateral constraintnis applied, and therefore offer a lot of room for misalignment. This seems unlikely, as B&M were very accomplished by this point, and could achieve precise support connections throughout the rest of the ride.
2) These are connecting through dampeners to reduce track vibrations for comfort and longevity's sakes. The small connection point would still be questionable given it would therefore be subjected to some lateral force, but that could be distributed to the wider support column through a beefy endplate, and vertical forces can be supported all the same.
If anyone has an answer or is better informed to speculate, I'd love to know more!
(* My qualifications are RCT2,3 NL1 AND NL2. I reckon it's a stacked CV, right Merlin?.....)
