Post by cyborgleopard on Jun 18, 2017 20:59:43 GMT
So after viewing David's spreadsheet of laser tests It's come to my attention that there should be some testing done on kinetic armor. I initially attempted some tests of 3v3 battles of ships equipped with Railguns (1g, 15km/sec), Coilguns (10g, 7km/sec) and Chemical Cannons (20g, 3.3km/sec), changing out the armor configuration on the ships. I did not use an ultra-high-velocity railgun since for testing the railgun would be the only weapon to decide engagements since it would engage far sooner. This armament was chosen because it offered a good spread of projectiles at different speeds and masses, though it neglects nuclear and flak projectiles.
The reason I am wanting to do this is I have gotten suggestions on armor configurations from several forum members and they all seem very conflicted in how to armor a spacecraft. I think it's high time we get information based on proper data.
I ran into problems with the AI. (I was running the fights with two aggressive AIs, since aggressive will immediately charge towards one another when the match begins.) The 'good' AI would always orient broadside while the 'bad' AI would always be on homing/nose forward, making themselves much easier targets by not moving relative to the enemy and skewing the results to the green AI. (This is the main reason I am making this post, if someone can offer me a solution to this problem, I will happily carry on the testing single-handedly.)
If you would like to preform these tests yourself, or work with me and other forum members, I have many a idea for exploration. Kinetic armor has a lot of variables involved in it and the scientific method tells us that one should break things down and keep everything else the same while only testing a single variable. (If somebody has already done tests like this and I have just been in the dark about it, please redirect me to their work. I will be thrilled.)
~+~
-Thickness of whip shields? 1/2cm seems to be the generally accepted norm. Can these be thinner or thicker and be more or less effective?
-Spacing of whip shields? The stock gunships shield is 1m out. If someone were wanting to have many layers of whips their ship could start to get rather puffy. How thin a spacing can you get away with?
-Layers of whips? Does having a bunch of Whipple shields really give you an advantage? Most people seem to think so but we should test anyway.
-Stuffed Whipple shields? Do they provide an advantage?
-Whipple Shield Materials? I've heard Boron (soon to be nerfed), Diamond, VCS, Titanium. What is the best for whips? Are they all reasonably effective with different cost and mass balances?
-Main armor layers. I've heard even more madness here. Some say a fiber layer works best. Some say a metal layer. Some say a diamond layer. Some say fiber layers with metal in the middle. Some say metal layers with fiber in the middle. All of these configurations should be tested.
The reason I am wanting to do this is I have gotten suggestions on armor configurations from several forum members and they all seem very conflicted in how to armor a spacecraft. I think it's high time we get information based on proper data.
I ran into problems with the AI. (I was running the fights with two aggressive AIs, since aggressive will immediately charge towards one another when the match begins.) The 'good' AI would always orient broadside while the 'bad' AI would always be on homing/nose forward, making themselves much easier targets by not moving relative to the enemy and skewing the results to the green AI. (This is the main reason I am making this post, if someone can offer me a solution to this problem, I will happily carry on the testing single-handedly.)
If you would like to preform these tests yourself, or work with me and other forum members, I have many a idea for exploration. Kinetic armor has a lot of variables involved in it and the scientific method tells us that one should break things down and keep everything else the same while only testing a single variable. (If somebody has already done tests like this and I have just been in the dark about it, please redirect me to their work. I will be thrilled.)
~+~
-Thickness of whip shields? 1/2cm seems to be the generally accepted norm. Can these be thinner or thicker and be more or less effective?
-Spacing of whip shields? The stock gunships shield is 1m out. If someone were wanting to have many layers of whips their ship could start to get rather puffy. How thin a spacing can you get away with?
-Layers of whips? Does having a bunch of Whipple shields really give you an advantage? Most people seem to think so but we should test anyway.
-Stuffed Whipple shields? Do they provide an advantage?
-Whipple Shield Materials? I've heard Boron (soon to be nerfed), Diamond, VCS, Titanium. What is the best for whips? Are they all reasonably effective with different cost and mass balances?
-Main armor layers. I've heard even more madness here. Some say a fiber layer works best. Some say a metal layer. Some say a diamond layer. Some say fiber layers with metal in the middle. Some say metal layers with fiber in the middle. All of these configurations should be tested.