Problem No.

1 1
Cumulative cannon
Reporter: Artem Sukhov Team of Russia
International Physicists' Tournament 2020
How high may a ping-pong ball jump Maximum
using the setup on the video? height
Initial
What is the maximal fraction of the height
total kinetic energy that can be
transferred to the ball?
Level of water in cup 2
14 Height, cm
12 Level increases in

10
falling phase
!
Rest Falling After
8
collision
6
experiment

2 Rest level
Time, s
0
0 0,5 1 1,5
Video from nearby camera 0,5 m
Vwater  100 ml 3m
480 fps 120 fps
Vcup  500 ml
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Rest phase 3

“Drawing pins” of a team of Russia (2012), Alex Krotov

p1 p2 p1  p2

p
R ! Ball moves to wall

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Falling phase 4

Fs.t .

 Fs.t .
 Experiment by GetAClass

F  Fg.  Fin.  Fs.t.  Fres.

Surface tends to
  70 o
Fg .  Fin.  0 hemisphere
(Full wetting case)

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Collision phase 5
! A cumulative
jet forms

There is no effect in the cup with the

walls lubricated with paraffin.
Effect still occurs in the cup with rigid walls.
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Plan of investigation 6

1 Cumulative jet calculation

Parameters of a fluid and a cup

2 Energy transfer to a ball

Parameters of the ball

3 Height maximization
And maximal fraction of the energy

Some questions are covered in the

4 hidden part of the investigation.
Collapse of crater 7
Ma y  Mg  Fd .
Massof
Mass ofbraking
cup-fluid
system
water 0  2gh0
G  g
x

A  mGh 
A  2
  Gh  G d h
V 2 y D
Fluid density

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Calculation of cumulative jet height 8

 H
А 3 Air drag force
10 ! can be neglected u
Аd .
G h0
u k 2
G 2 
H   k h g h
2g 2g g
Cumulation coefficient H  kh0
! Maximum height is proportional to initial
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Energy cumulation coefficient 9
Let's consider that water front already has velocity
u

' u 2

  ctg 2 Cone case


 2
2
 '' For part of sphere, there is an equivalent cone

Vair  Vcone
2
u
Hemisphere case
u2
 18
Experimentally k
 2 confirmed  2

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

- “Кумулятивный эффект в простых опытах” [Cumulative effect in simple experiments] , V. V. Mayer
Experimental setup 10

Support ways

«Cup»

Falling plane
m
We carry out 5 measurements a plane  9,8 2 Surface
per 1 point of dependence s
We put the camera at a distance To save the angle of contact with the plane, we
of 2 meters to avoid the parallax will improve the experimental setup.
effect The experiment was repeatable. (Standard deviation about 5%)
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Maximum jet height vs. initial height 11
Analytical solution
Water 20 oC, cup diameter 40 mm, 100 ml water
Maximum jet height, m Crater formed
1,4

1,2

0,8 Crater did not form Surface form

until the end - Coefficient from geometry

H  1,55  h
0,6

0,4 theory
experiment
0,2
Initial height, m
0
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Depth of crater vs. time of falling 12
Depth, mm
16
fit 5 measurements per 1 point of dependence
14 experiment
12

10 Crater formed
8

6
0,5 m   70o

4 480 fps

2
d  d max (1  e 4t )
Time of falling, s
0
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Coefficient of lift velocity 13
10 Coefficient q, units
9 Change by increasing the temperature of the water.
Errors come to a size of 1 point.
8
fit
7
experiment 5 measurements per 1 point
6
 qt
5 d  d max (1  e )
4
3
q = 0,0002(sigma/n)2 + 0,003sigma/n + 3,07
R² = 0,9997  SurfaceN/mtension
q
2
1
Dynamic
viscosity Pa*s
 
, m/s

0
55 75 95 115 135 155 175

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Maximum jet height vs. initial height 14
Added numerical calculation with dynamic of crater

Maximum jet height, m

1,4 Water 20 oC, cup diameter 40 mm, 100 ml water
corrected theory
1,2 experiment
numerical
1
5 measurements per 1 point
0,8
The calculation
describes the
0,6
experiment well.
Numerical calculation
0,4 visualization

0,2
Initial height, m
0
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Numerical calculation ANSYS AUTODYN 15
1. We can calculate lifting in zero gravity
2. We can calculate collision with large
negative accelerations

Numerically calculate the fluid motion by

solving the Navier-Stokes differential
equation by FEM
The calculation procedure is in the hidden part

Comparison
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Maximum jet height vs. fluid volume 16
Ping-pong ball, initial height – 35 сm
0,6 Maximum height, м

numerical
0,5
experiment

0,4

0,3
5 measurements per 1 point
0,2 This dependence can be explained:
1. Friction on the bottom is more than between the layers
2. Different maximum depth
0,1

Volume, ml
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Plan of investigation 17

1 Cumulative jet calculation

Parameters of a fluid and a cup

2 Energy transfer to a ball

Parameters of the ball

3 Height maximization
And maximal fraction of the energy
Energy transfer to ball from jet 18
r Law of u 2
energy   gh   gH
H conservation:

Law of
2

h P change of p  F t  mu
momentum:
u Law of
mass
conservation:
 r0 u0   r u
2 2

mu u0 r0 2
F  P   (u  ball ) 2

t u
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Ball maximum height calculation 19

Jet radius Height of jet

H
P  Pr0 
2
( 2 g (H  h ) 
  a  t ) 2

aball i   g H  h
ball
i ball  i 1 ball  i
m
a t 2
Maximum  ball i t 
hi 1 jet hheight Velocity of the iball
  0m / s h  0 m
0
Fluid density
0 without ball
i
2
The resulting differential equations are solved by the
Euler method with correction and a dependent step.
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Ball height vs. time after collision 20
Numerical calculation, plastic cup, ping-pong ball, initial height - 35 cm
0,6 Height, m
Further moves with
0,5 acceleration g

0,4

0,3 The ball accelerates

to jet velocity
almost instantly.
0,2
theory
experiment
0,1
Ball added to the model
Time after collision, s
0
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Maximum height of ball vs. diameter of cup 21
Ping-pong ball, initial height – 35 cm, 150 ml water
0,6 Maximum height, m

0,5 experiment The effective jet size is limited

numerical by the diameter of the ball
0,4
Dependence becomes saturated

0,3

0,2
5 measurements
per 1 point 40 mm 50 mm 70 mm 110 mm
0,1

Diameter, mm
0
30 50 70 90 110 130

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Plan of investigation 22

1 Cumulative jet calculation

Parameters of a fluid and a cup

2 Energy transfer to a ball

Parameters of the ball

3 Height maximization
And maximal fraction of the energy
Boundaries of model applicability 23
The limit of jet speeds m
is subsonic speed.
  331
s
The height limit is the breaking
point of the cup.
h0  2,1 m
The acceleration time limit d character
 acceleration
by the size of the cup. sound
The limit on the maximum height
is air resistance.
Fgravity  Fdrag

H exp  3,1 m  H theor

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
Fraction of energy vs. diameter of cup 24
Ping pong ball, initial height - 35 cm, 150 ml of water
0,16 k, relative units
0,14 The effective jet size is limited
by the diameter of the ball
0,12

0,1
Dependence becomes
saturated
0,08
mball gh1
0,06 experiment k
numerical (m fluid  mcup  mball ) gh 0
0,04
5 measurements
0,02 per 1 point
Diameter, mm
0
30 50 70 90 110 130

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Fraction of energy vs. fluid volume 25
Ping pong ball, initial height - 55 cm
0,3
k, relative units
There is an optimum for
0,25
fluid volume
0,2
kmax  23%
0,15
numerical
0,1 experiment
5 measurements per point
0,05
Volume, ml
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Ideas for optimal design 26
Ping-pong ball

Threaded
Threaded

Threaded Strip

Sieve

1. The ball moves up the center

2. The whole jet concentrates to hit the ball and works like a piston
3. Sealing pipe strip slightly holds the ball (empiric)
4. Materials are well wetted by water.
Device can accelerate heavy objects well 
Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part
CUMULATIVE CANNON! 27

Toroidal bottom Parabolic bottom

k 1%
H 10m
Flat bottom

Experimental part Qualitative explanation Calculation part

Conclusions 28
Found the essence of the problem.
The formed crater place the key
role. And its collapse under the
influence of large accelerations.

An experimental setup has been

designed to improve the
repeatability of the phenomenon.

The maximum height of the jet The dynamics of the formation of a

from the important parameters
of the liquid and the cup is
investigated. An rather accurate
calculation is made.
Final thought
crater is investigated depending
on the properties of the liquid.
Empirical amendment.
Conclusions 29
The mechanism of energy transfer is
investigated. The energy transfer
process is almost instantaneous. The
theory describes the experiment
well.
The maximum height is defined
under conditions of limited
parameters. The coefficient of energy
transfer from the diameter and
fullness of the cup is investigated.

In the end, the real

"Cumulative Cannon"
is developed.
Final thought
Bibliography 30
“Кумулятивный эффект в простых опытах”,
[Cumulative effect in simple experiments], V. V. Mayer
“Аналитическая гидродинамика”,
[Analytical fluid dynamics], A. G. Petrov
Solution of IYPT problem “Drawing pins”,
Alex Krotov, Team of Russia (2012)
“Молекулярная физика”,
[Molecular physics], G. Y. Myakishev, A. Z. Sinyakov
Further research:
1. Strut angle investigation
2. Focusing effect investigation
Final thought
 Problem №1 31
Cumulative cannon
Reporter: Artem Sukhov Team of Russia
It was also investigated:
1. Strut angle of cone and another cups
(change cumulation coefficient)
2. Mass of the ball
3. Radius of jet from radius of cup
4. Vortex in cup
5. Focusing effect
(interesting phenomenon)
6. Surface
(elasticity of collision)
7. Deformations effect
8. Decay into droplets
(theory limitation)
COMPARISON

Final thought Thank you! Questions?