Sciencemadness Discussion Board

InnoCentive challenge: Novel Highly Energetic Materials

Nicodem - 17-11-2012 at 09:25

In case anybody is interested, see
https://www.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/9933049
Quote:
Novel Highly Energetic Materials

TAGS:
Engineering/Design, Physical Sciences, Chemistry, Ideation
AWARD: $10,000 USD | DEADLINE: 1/03/13 | ACTIVE SOLVERS: 48 | POSTED: 11/09/12

This Challenge seeks to identify Novel Highly Energetic Materials

This is an Ideation Challenge with a guaranteed award for at least one submitted solution.

Source: InnoCentive Challenge ID: 9933049


Challenge Overview

Identification of a novel highly energetic material with high-energy capacity is sought. Material identified must have reduced sensitivity compared to existing materials. This requires only a written ideation type proposal.

The submission should include a detailed description, and supporting data from the literature, if any, of novel putative compound(s) with the required energy density/explosive velocity and insensitivity. The Seeker is not looking for a literature search on the subject, but the proposal of putative novel energetic compound(s), which display explosive velocities that significantly exceed that of CL-20 by 100% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane). Novel orthogonal thinking may be rewarded even without supporting literature.

This is an Ideation Challenge, which has the following unique features:

There is a guaranteed award. The awards will be paid to the best submission(s) as solely determined by the Seeker. The total payout will be $10,000, with at least one award being no smaller than $5,000 and no award being smaller than $1,000.
The Solvers are not required to transfer exclusive intellectual property rights to the Seeker. Rather, by submitting a proposal, the Solvers grants to the Seeker a royalty-free, perpetual, and non-exclusive license to use any information included in this proposal.

After the Challenge deadline, the Seeker will complete the review process and make a decision with regards to the Winning Solution(s).All Solvers that submitted a proposal will be notified on the status of their submissions; however, no detailed evaluation of individual submissions will be provided.

PHILOU Zrealone - 17-11-2012 at 10:03

Thank you Nicodem, :D
" The Seeker is not looking for a literature search on the subject, but the proposal of putative novel energetic compound(s), which display explosive velocities that significantly exceed that of CL-20 by 100% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane)."

If one refers to CL-20 and wish to exceed its explosive velocity (9,38 Km/s) by 100%...
It would mean an explosive with a VOD of 18,76 km/s...
That's high ... too high maybe a typo... but I have ideas and good litterature references and graphics to support my theories...so maybe I will give it a try.

Rosco Bodine - 17-11-2012 at 10:53

Yeah the proposal seems to be unrealistic overreaching to me. The proverbial "fools errand" perhaps ? :D The legal acrobatics of assignment seem as ambiguous as the challenge.

franklyn - 17-11-2012 at 17:36

Thank you Nicodem , but there is more than meets the eye here.

These sort of prizes are usually given for aeronautical and astronautical
achievement , with the purpose of defraying the costs incurred in purely
visionary feats of engineering which can have no practical purpose or
immediate market.

My best effort found here
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=12452
falls well short of the 20 k/s challenge :
" proposal of putative novel energetic compound(s), which
display explosive velocities that significantly exceed that of CL-20 by 100% "
Without tapping nuclear energy in some manner , perhaps with Hafnium
isomer or related material , the extent of improvement in the art being
sought is just fanciful.

With no further criteria stipulated other than velocity of detonation , it appears
to me that is cited merely as an indicator of potential performance. Detonation
pressure would better serve the purpose of the challenge. There is no definition
of what constitutes " novel " so although my proposed solid state compound
misses the target , exceeding the paltry velocity of detonation benchmark is
do-able. Shocktube filled with a photoactive gas can achieve wave propagation
at some fraction of the speed of light much as an optical fibre does since the
light emitted by the reaction triggers the unreacted portion ahead in the tubing ,
as outlined by me here.
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=14204&...
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=14204&...

The offered amount of $10,000 total prize money seems paltry to me ,
I have thrown away more than that in a week of adverse securities trading.
There is suspicion to be skeptical of this promise of some indefinite award
which may rise to $ 5,000 for a chosen winner. A baited call seeking ideas
can do so at no cost just by saying you did not fulfill the challenge stipulations.
A more cynical nefarious scenario is one in which Law enforcement members
sitting about idle and concerned for their continued employment in the current
fiscal need , would seek to justify their continued service by identifying
amateur researchers for surveillance. This sort of technique is called a sting
and relies on enthusiasm to brag of exploits which law enforcement just see
as a pretext to inflict gratuitous punitive action to keep us all safe from terror.

.

simply RED - 17-11-2012 at 23:15

Usually the truth is much more prosaic. They will simply give the award to themselves or their closest friends or family (like the Nobel prizes, etc.)... And nobody will bother to read the teenage bombers' letters.
Do not waste your time with such stupid things without having realtionship with those who give the award. It is like applying for a "corporate" job or "good" university without connections, it just does not work in the free world.

I am not fanasizing but I have seen how this is done by myself!

[Edited on 18-11-2012 by simply RED]