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Post by srbrant on Nov 22, 2017 6:26:19 GMT
For ages, I've been trying to find the perfect starship design philosophies for my story - one that is the ideal balance between realistic and futuristic. I'm glad that I have you guys to turn to for more direct advice (though I feel embarrassed that I'm throwing out all these really speculative ideas like some hapless Trekkie), but I think it would help even more if you had a solid, tangible idea of my ships. Seeing how this is the only Hard SF space combat forum I know of. Here's a work-in-progress chart of Kemono Union ships, built using the "Foss-Gaughan" pattern of starship construction. As well as a somewhat helpful cutaway. Damn, I need a scanner so bad... Attachments:
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Post by RiftandRend on Nov 22, 2017 10:32:03 GMT
Fancy. I don't see any huge issues with these. I suggest making them up-down symmetrical; There shouldn't be any clear top or bottom.
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Post by The Astronomer on Nov 22, 2017 10:51:10 GMT
That crazy amount of details...
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Post by Enderminion on Nov 22, 2017 13:32:44 GMT
0/10 no pusher plate for orions
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Post by matterbeam on Nov 22, 2017 14:16:18 GMT
That looks amazing!
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Post by Kerr on Nov 22, 2017 14:34:35 GMT
These look really good, they have a certain fantasy aspect to them. They would fit amazingly well in a soft sci-fi. Although having boring cylinders or other optimized forms aren't that pleasant to look at. And the fiction in science fiction has to be filled somehow. The radiators appear to be rather small, either you have very high outlet temperatures or use kinetic or missile weaponry. Laser as PDW and maybe even lightly armored sniper ships could work.
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Post by srbrant on Nov 22, 2017 17:45:47 GMT
These look really good, they have a certain fantasy aspect to them. They would fit amazingly well in a soft sci-fi. Although having boring cylinders or other optimized forms aren't that pleasant to look at. And the fiction in science fiction has to be filled somehow. The radiators appear to be rather small, either you have very high outlet temperatures or use kinetic or missile weaponry. Laser as PDW and maybe even lightly armored sniper ships could work. Kinetic weaponry is definitely used, though lasers and even exotic and esoteric weapons are employed as well. The reason many of the radiators look so small is because they're on particularly large ships (hypercoolants may be a factor as well.) The "top" and front armor is much more durable for head-on engagements, with the more sensitive equipment (observation domes, communication rigs, docking plugs, escape craft, etc) on the more lightly-armored "underbelly." Advancements in fuel efficiency, fusion engines, exotic metallurgy and supertensile solids means that ships are much larger and can carry significantly higher payloads.
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Post by srbrant on Nov 22, 2017 17:47:45 GMT
0/10 no pusher plate for orions I don't believe in exploding nuclear turd propulsion. (XNTP)
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Post by Kerr on Nov 22, 2017 18:23:26 GMT
These look really good, they have a certain fantasy aspect to them. They would fit amazingly well in a soft sci-fi. Although having boring cylinders or other optimized forms aren't that pleasant to look at. And the fiction in science fiction has to be filled somehow. The radiators appear to be rather small, either you have very high outlet temperatures or use kinetic or missile weaponry. Laser as PDW and maybe even lightly armored sniper ships could work. Kinetic weaponry is definitely used, though lasers and even exotic and esoteric weapons are employed as well. The reason many of the radiators look so small is because they're on particularly large ships (hypercoolants may be a factor as well.) The "top" and front armor is much more durable for head-on engagements, with the more sensitive equipment (observation domes, communication rigs, docking plugs, escape craft, etc) on the more lightly-armored "underbelly." Advancements in fuel efficiency, fusion engines, exotic metallurgy and supertensile solids means that ships are much larger and can carry significantly higher payloads. What ya mean with exotic and esoteric weaponry? You'll need a lot of heat sink to handle that much waste heat. Also if you use anything more advanced than chem and nuclear liquid and solid core engines you'll need very large radiators to keep your ship from turning into a molten slag.
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Post by srbrant on Nov 22, 2017 22:30:55 GMT
Kinetic weaponry is definitely used, though lasers and even exotic and esoteric weapons are employed as well. The reason many of the radiators look so small is because they're on particularly large ships (hypercoolants may be a factor as well.) The "top" and front armor is much more durable for head-on engagements, with the more sensitive equipment (observation domes, communication rigs, docking plugs, escape craft, etc) on the more lightly-armored "underbelly." Advancements in fuel efficiency, fusion engines, exotic metallurgy and supertensile solids means that ships are much larger and can carry significantly higher payloads. What ya mean with exotic and esoteric weaponry? You'll need a lot of heat sink to handle that much waste heat. Also if you use anything more advanced than chem and nuclear liquid and solid core engines you'll need very large radiators to keep your ship from turning into a molten slag. That I still have to figure out, I'm sad to say. But I'll make a note of it to add more heat sinks. Especially for components that require very small sinks like drone launchers. Though I also had the idea of running coolant pipes through the hull so that the hull itself becomes a heatsink. Albeit one that won't be hot enough to glow. And while these advances in larger payload capacity means a much more spacious interior and significantly reduced added mass limit (like how much you can store on the ship), it's no cruise-ship. It's more like an apartment building at best.
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Post by bigbombr on Nov 23, 2017 5:55:58 GMT
That I still have to figure out, I'm sad to say. But I'll make a note of it to add more heat sinks. Especially for components that require very small sinks like drone launchers. Though I also had the idea of running coolant pipes through the hull so that the hull itself becomes a heatsink. Albeit one that won't be hot enough to glow. And while these advances in larger payload capacity means a much more spacious interior and significantly reduced added mass limit (like how much you can store on the ship), it's no cruise-ship. It's more like an apartment building at best. If you want non-electric projectile weapons with a higher muzzle velocity than conventional cannons, you might want to take a look at ram accelerators (maximum muzzle velocity of about 10 km/s). Light gas guns, electrothermal guns and blast wave accelerators make for decent projectile launchers too.
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Post by srbrant on Nov 23, 2017 10:02:44 GMT
That I still have to figure out, I'm sad to say. But I'll make a note of it to add more heat sinks. Especially for components that require very small sinks like drone launchers. Though I also had the idea of running coolant pipes through the hull so that the hull itself becomes a heatsink. Albeit one that won't be hot enough to glow. And while these advances in larger payload capacity means a much more spacious interior and significantly reduced added mass limit (like how much you can store on the ship), it's no cruise-ship. It's more like an apartment building at best. If you want non-electric projectile weapons with a higher muzzle velocity than conventional cannons, you might want to take a look at ram accelerators (maximum muzzle velocity of about 10 km/s). Light gas guns, electrothermal guns and blast wave accelerators make for decent projectile launchers too. Good idea! Any ship designs you think would be the most plausible or efficient?
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Post by bigbombr on Nov 23, 2017 11:01:32 GMT
If you want non-electric projectile weapons with a higher muzzle velocity than conventional cannons, you might want to take a look at ram accelerators (maximum muzzle velocity of about 10 km/s). Light gas guns, electrothermal guns and blast wave accelerators make for decent projectile launchers too. Good idea! Any ship designs you think would be the most plausible or efficient? Mostly cones and wedges, with radiators being either behind an armored bulge or edge on towards the enemy (providing a thin, hard to hit target). I'd expect combat spacecraft to be littered with sensors, cameras and antennas. Spacefleets/constellations might behave more like distributed webs of sensors and weapons then a naval fleet, since humans are only useful for decision making and armour is not cost-effective.
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Post by srbrant on Nov 23, 2017 11:13:47 GMT
Good idea! Any ship designs you think would be the most plausible or efficient? Mostly cones and wedges, with radiators being either behind an armored bulge or edge on towards the enemy (providing a thin, hard to hit target). I'd expect combat spacecraft to be littered with sensors, cameras and antennas. Spacefleets/constellations might behave more like distributed webs of sensors and weapons then a naval fleet, since humans are only useful for decision making and armour is not cost-effective. That's why a lot of the ships that I've designed have that large hump - so that the radiators have something to hide behind. If that's not enough, each radiator has a protective cowl facing the front.
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Post by newageofpower on Nov 23, 2017 19:16:43 GMT
What. A 10,000 sqm hull radiating at 500k disposes of less waste heat than a. 100 sqm radiator at 4000k. Orders of magnitude less.
I don't see how a low temperature hull radiator is *at all* beneficial if you're using very high energy powerplants. Unless it's a non-Carnot powerplant like Fission Fragment.
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