ERIKS Collaborates with TU Delft Students to Scoop Second Place

Aerospace Engineering student Pieter-Bas Bentinck, who was part of the 38-strong Delft team, said: “Partnerships are crucial, because we are students and have a limited budget. We had partners that only provided financial support, but the people at ERIKS made their time, expertise and components available. What’s more, they were involved from a very early stage.”

ERIKS Head of Communications, Daan Heijbroek added: “Because of the innovative character, the Hyperloop project is a good match for ERIKS."

With the temperature of the tyres potentially rising to 200 degrees in as little as 15 seconds, the wheels were a crucial design element, particularly the choice of material – grip and torque were key, but the rubber had to remain attached to the aluminium.

Using ERIKS’ rubber technology department in Alkmaar, and the Elastomer Research Testing Centre in Deventer, three new compounds were developed by adding fibres to the rubber base. Only one was selected, but the others have already been earmarked for future projects – even more forward thinking.

ERIKS’ expertise was once again called upon during the braking system phase, for selecting the appropriate and, most importantly, safest components. ERIKS supplied elements throughout – pipes, pressure relief, ball and electromagnetic valves - but it was the specialist knowledge that had one of the greatest effects - you can say they are a co-creator of choice.

The afternoon of the competition was hot and humid, causing the motor to overheat, which led to the activation of an innovative safety mechanism that shut down the pod before hitting its calculated top speed. Although the unforeseen weather conditions didn’t allow the pod to travel at its peak, it still managed a respectable 142 km/h, claiming second place overall.

Bentinck concluded: “We were very pleasantly surprised by their huge involvement in the technical area. You could say that we would not have succeeded without ERIKS."