Erciyas Holding built a 208 m Hyperloop test tube at the TÜBİTAK Gebze campus for the Hyperloop Development Competition held as part of TEKNOFEST. The group plans to keep developing the tube and to work towards a full-scale, 5 km functional prototype line.
The competition
Organised for the first time under the coordination of the TÜBİTAK Rail Transport Technologies Institute (RUTE), the Hyperloop Development Competition took place in Kocaeli from 15 to 19 August 2022. Sixteen teams raced vehicles of their own design in the 208 m test tube. The aim was to help undergraduate and graduate students develop magnetic levitation and propulsion technologies.
Teams were assessed on capsule design, communication with the control centre, propulsion, levitation, braking and race safety, as well as their reports, pre-race checklists, remote control and capsule movement. According to TÜBİTAK, completing the tube under the safety procedures and exceeding 120 km/h inside it were key criteria.
The tube and how it is made
Hyperloop tubes are large-diameter steel pipes inside which the vehicle travels. Erciyas states that it can make pipes of this size in spiral-welded series production, with every weld checked by ultrasound and the whole pipe then X-rayed. The same spiral welding know-how underpins the spiral-welded tank wagon that Erciyas Rail built in 2022.
Next step
In 2022 Erciyas signed an agreement to act as investor and supplier for a 5 km full-scale prototype line. Erciyas Rail takes part as the core manufacturing partner for Hyperloop tube design and production and for tube and bogie development.
This article was first published on our previous website on 4 September 2022 and has been moved to the new site.