
Steam Cannon - EndXA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_cannon
======
Isamu
Of interest is the Mythbusters episode linked in the article:

>Myth Statement: Archimedes was able to build a powerful steam cannon, using
technology available at the time.

>Status: Busted

>Notes: A flash-boil-powered cannon, built even with modern materials and
techniques, was barely able to push a projectile out of the barrel. A more
modern pre-boiled, valve-triggered system, like those used in aircraft
catapults, was able to project a cannonball a considerable distance, and
required far less pressure than the MythBusters had originally projected. Also
see Holman Projector which worked on a similar principle.

~~~
Isamu
Continued! Steam Cannon successful at MIT!

[http://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/experiments/steamCannon/Archime...](http://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/experiments/steamCannon/ArchimedesSteamCannon.html)

>Being frustrated with the outcome, having a visit to MIT in their schedule,
and remembering last year’s Archimedes’s death ray collaboration, the
MythBusters asked us to take a look. They wondered if there was a simple,
plausible solution compatible with da Vinci’s vague drawing and explanation of
Archimedes's steam cannon.

>The drawing has been interpreted as a direct injection concept, where water
rapidly sprays into a hot breech and the resulting flash of steam launches the
projectile.

>But, some back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest otherwise. A 540 °C (1000
°F) copper breech can provide a heat flux of roughly 100,000 kiloWatts per
square meter to water that is in direct contact with its surface. And if water
can be sprayed onto the breech in a uniform 1mm thick layer, 2,000 kiloJoules
of energy per square meter of surface will produce 400 PSI steam—a pressure
that would generate a reasonable projectile velocity.

[...]

>High-speed camera footage showed that the muzzle velocity was over 300 m/s
(670 mph)!

>We can’t say if Archimedes did it, but this small-scale test shows that a
simple, powerful steam cannon could probably have been made using technology
of his era.

~~~
Iv
I keep being amazed by all the purported inventions of Archimedes. And
disappointed by the hubris of modern engineers who think that it should only
take a handful of interns and an afternoon to reproduce what would have been
at the time cutting edge military research, with a lot of ingenuity invested
in it.

Someone who would invent the anti-naval claws, the sun death rays and a steam
cannon would not have just one clever invention in making each work.

The solar death ray requires aiming devices and thousands of people. I find it
very interesting that nowadays we can make almost perfect mirrors compared to
the maybe 50% reflective bronze shields they would have had but producing a
few thousands and making a few thousand people collaborate is something we
have a hard time reproduce.

~~~
wincy
I’m not sure I’d call “forcing a bunch of slaves to hold up mirrors”
“collaboration”.

~~~
Iv
We don't know much about Syracuse politics, but in that case, it is more
likely this was done by soldiers. Syracuse garrison would have been at least a
thousand troops and more probably several thousands. While waiting for the
ships to land, it sounds like a good idea to try and sync them to try make the
ships catch fire.

------
imglorp
Survivorship bias towards inventors who lived to write up their experiments? I
wonder how many people were killed developing these who _didn't_.

~~~
pavel_lishin
I would argue that if your invention killed you before you got a chance to
write it up, it isn't a successful invention.

~~~
JoshTriplett
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors_killed_by_th...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors_killed_by_their_own_inventions)

------
dexen
Semi-related - _USS Vesuvius_ [1] used compressed air (rather than steam) to
ensure a somewhat soft launch of its artillery projectiles. This was
necessitated by the use of dynamite payload - a potent & practical explosive,
but somewhat sensitive to shock of normal gun firing. On the flipside, the
gunshots were rather quiet, and completely free of flash or smoke.

The whole weapon system was a technological dead end.

-

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Vesuvius_(1888)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Vesuvius_\(1888\))

------
Hamuko
Does the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant No. 4 nuclear reactor count as a steam
cannon?

~~~
orbital-decay
Hm, sounds like a stretch - it didn't propel any solid projectile to a
substantial distance, I think? (like the Plumbbob/Pascal-B test did with a
steel cap, for example - but it wasn't steam)

~~~
Hamuko
At least some accounts say that the first explosion blew the 1000-ton
biological shield through the reactor building roof. Guess it's pretty hard to
say exactly how much it threw it, since the second explosion came only seconds
afterwards.

------
eggsome
Immediately thought of this:

[https://masterofmagic.fandom.com/wiki/Steam_Cannon](https://masterofmagic.fandom.com/wiki/Steam_Cannon)

Here is a great retrospective if you missed out at the time:

[https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-04-20-retrospective-...](https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-04-20-retrospective-
master-of-magic)

------
dmix
This other weapon from the Siege of Syracuse is great too:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claw_of_Archimedes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claw_of_Archimedes)

This one was said to be feasible during a test by Superweapons. Although I
doubt it looks like the included painting.

~~~
jandrese
The painting was probably done by an artist who heard a third hand account of
how it worked. A simple claw on a crane that attempted to hook onto the side
of a ship and flip it doesn't seem too out of the realm of possibility, but it
does require that the ship to navigate extremely close to the device. So it's
only useful against invasions where the ships are attempting to disgorge
soldiers onto the walls, but since that's what the Romans were doing it's in
the realm of possibilities.

~~~
Iv
The way I am picturing it is that of hooks on a chain lying just below the
surface that can be rushed back towards a crane, pulling any ship who crosses
the line.

Looking at a map, the placement of such a line is obvious:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Expedition#/media/Fil...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Expedition#/media/File:Athenian_Siege_of_Syracuse.png)

------
Noxmiles
Users who liked the Steam Cannon article may also like:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_cannon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_cannon)
;)

