Re: [ATM] Subject: light weight mirrors--mylar!

["Christopher Todd" <christopher.todd@gmail.com>]

Actually, I was thinking that part of the cleverness of the electromagnet
approach would be that precise placement of the magnets would not be
necessary, as you could simply adjust the current if you were a little too
far away or too close to the mirror/film surface.  Then again, I'm not an
engineer, so maybe that's just silly. 

Also, I'm assuming you would have an array of small magnets under the film,
like maybe one every inch or two, and probably arranged in concentric rings.

I still think the tricky bit is finding the right film, since I don't think
mylar or aluminum foil are magnetic, or would react to a magnetic field.
Does anyone know of a metal that reacts to magnetic fields that can be
formed into thin films (or, at least, sheets so thin they could be deformed
by magnets)?

Chris

> -----Original Message-----
> From: atm-bounces@atmlist.net 
> [mailto:atm-bounces@atmlist.net] On Behalf Of Mitchell R
> Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 8:54 PM
> To: atm@atmlist.net
> Subject: Re: [ATM] Subject: light weight mirrors--mylar!
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: atm-bounces@atmlist.net 
> [mailto:atm-bounces@atmlist.net] On Behalf Of Christopher Todd
> Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 7:20 PM
> To: 'ATMLIST'
> Subject: Re: [ATM] Subject: light weight mirrors--mylar!
> 
> Has anyone ever considered using some kind of metal film and 
> deforming it with electromagnets?  You can imagine the 
> possibilities, being able to vary the strength of the 
> magnetic field by varying current, and using many relatively 
> small electromagnets, would give you lots of flexibility.  
> The key, obviously, would be to find the right material for 
> the film.  Alas, I am not a metallurgist or engineer, so I 
> won't be the one to try this.  I'm sure someone else must 
> have thought of this before, so I'm curious if anything ever 
> came of it.
> 
> Chris
> 
> I had thought of something crazy like that but figured the 
> magnets would have to be placed as accurately as the surface 
> of the mirror you wanted. Or you could just do a rim of them 
> o something of that sort. A ring would sort of pull evenly 
> and let is sag in the middle?
> 
> Mitch
> 
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