Centrifuge RPM
Centrifugal acceleration and RPM versus radius. Radius is to body midline for similar head-to-foot hydrostatic pressure compared to 9.8 m/s² gravity). This neglects subtle long-term Coriolis effects, besides the obvious and well-known vestibular effects of motion in a rotating acceleration field.
a = \omega^2 R ~ so ~ R = a (gees) / \omega^2 = 9.8 / ( \pi RPM / 60 )^2 = 3575 / RPM^2 meters for one gee
RPM |
1 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
30 |
radius (meters) |
3575 |
894 |
397 |
143 |
56 |
36 |
16 |
9 |
4 |
One paper claims vestibular adaptation to 30 RPM(!) within a week, for a limited range of motion. A conservative guess is that 15 RPM will suffice for most practical long term needs, assuming training and procedural accomodations.
A cylinder 16 meters radius and 10 meters wide provides 1000 square meters of floor space. Three meters of polethylene shielding around that is a polyethylene volume of π (16*38² - 10*32²) m³ ≈ 10,000 m³ ≈ 9,000 tonnes of PE.