The crucial test for any Mach Effect like device is in a full vacuum environment so here is my DIY vacuum test bed and proof that my piezoelectric (PzC) stack device does not work in high vacuum. I’ll describe the test bed, the device and the test results.

Vacuum Test Bed

The vacuum chamber is made from an inexpensive 6” x 24” PVC pipe called an SDR-35 riser pipe. It has two drive power wires passing through either side and sealed with E6000 glue. The pipe contains a wood frame holding two razor blades soldered to the drive wires. (The blades replace the guitar strings of Blog 8.) The balance arm, which contains the PzC stack, counterweight and needle axel, is balanced on the razor blades (Figure 1). This end provides access to the chamber and has the vacuum pump attachment. The gasket is made from a 1/16” rubber sheet affixed with E6000.

Figure 1. Vacuum chamber with pump attachment end cap removed

The two end pieces are made from a 1/2″ x 12″ x 12″ acrylic blank from Amazon. Figure 2 shows the viewing end of the chamber with end piece glued using E6000. The vacuum gauge is threaded into the pipe and sealed. The balance arm is seen with a 30 mg weight (a coil of nylon line) for the test at atmospheric pressure. That coil is removed for vacuum testing since this end of the arm weights 30 mg more at full vacuum. (Everything weights a little more in vacuum but Styrofoam is significantly heavier.) Testing at atmospheric pressure gave the same result as seen in Blog 8.

Figure 2. Vacuum chamber from the viewing end.

Figure 3 shows the chamber sealed with vacuum pump attached and ready for test except for connecting the drive wires. The pump is a Zeny, 5 Pa portable refrigerant tool (on Amazon USD 75). The piping can be almost anything that’s available. I used 3/8″ NPT and 1/4″ valves with a 1/4″ x 1″ nipple threaded into the end cap. The hose is fuel line clamped to air hose connectors.

Figure 3. Vacuum test bed.

Vacuum Testing

After removing the 30 mg rebalance weight I ran the pump up to 17″ vacuum and viewed the result of drive power on the balance arm. The resulting thrust was about 1/4 the thrust observed when the test is done under normal air pressure. Then the pump was run up to 29.5″ vacuum and the test repeated. At full vacuum there was no motion of the balance arm when the stack was energized. This is positive proof that my PzC stack does not generate any detectable force in vacuum.

I had previously attached a nose cone on the end opposite the forced direction and under normal air pressure found the same result as with no nose cone. That should have eliminated asymmetrical air resistance and that end was covered so micro jets were also ruled out. It may be that my device slightly lowers the air pressure at one end causing it to be pulled in that direction.

Conclusion

While my device is not showing results, Drs Woodward/Fern are reporting Mach Effect thrusts so I’m not giving up. Now that I have a way to test under full vacuum, there are a few ideas left to try and to look for a simple way to negate the false positive air pressure effect. I also want to thank N for the comment emphasizing the importance of the air pressure interaction. So, please, comment on any questions, error modes or suggestions that come to mind. Until next time, thanks for viewing. – Larry