Procedural Engines?

[NSEP]

So first off, this is mainly focused on RSS/RO. And i do know that for most people, this kind of mod would ruin their gameplay, because the game might become too easy or something. But for people like me, who want to make fully fictional rockets, it might be a good thing. And of course, if you do not like it dont take it.

So my main idea goes like this:

-You can choose between different fuel types, Hypergolic/Cryogenic/Monopropellant/Etc and wich specific fuel.

-You can also choose between engine plumbing types.

-The Combustion Chamber, Nozzle and other parts can be changed in size with a Procedural Parts like mechanic.

-Another (maybe more simple) resizing alternative more like TweakScale.

-Combustion chamber pressure, thrust, ISP, and other things get calculated.

-The overall idea is simulair to the engine designer in Children of a Dead Earth

So what do you people think? I do not have any programming skills, but im still learning it. I hope one day i myself will make a mod like this. But if a mod like this already exist, please tell me.

Cheers! NSEP.

[Jas0n]

That sounds like a cool idea. My question is that can the ISP be accurately calculated?

[NSEP]

1 minute ago, Jas0n said:

That sounds like a cool idea. My question is that can the ISP be accurately calculated?

Yeah i think so. Thanks.

But i dont really know still got to figure it out.

[HorizonFulcrum]

I was thinking along the lines of a mod like this too, I am pretty sure there are formulas linking various aspects of an engine to it's thrust, ISP and so on. Would love to see it. Also, might be cool to have a mechanic, that an improperly designed engine overheats or explodes from excessive chamber pressure.

[Jas0n]

Another feature i would recommend is an R&D fee so that it's more realistic instead there being a custom engine for each rocket. 

The fee would depend on the specs of the engine and if it's a derivative or not.

[NSEP]

5 hours ago, HorizonFulcrum said:

I was thinking along the lines of a mod like this too, I am pretty sure there are formulas linking various aspects of an engine to it's thrust, ISP and so on. Would love to see it. Also, might be cool to have a mechanic, that an improperly designed engine overheats or explodes from excessive chamber pressure.

That would be a cool idea too! Explosions for the win! So if the ingine chamber pressure is too high for example, it explodes! Good idea! Adding it to my list.

1 hour ago, Jas0n said:

Another feature i would recommend is an R&D fee so that it's more realistic instead there being a custom engine for each rocket. 

The fee would depend on the specs of the engine and if it's a derivative or not.

Yeah, also a very cool idea, adding it to the list.

[qzgy]

33 minutes ago, NSEP said:

So if the ingine chamber pressure is too high for example, it explodes! Good idea! Adding it to my list.

Can you vary the wall thickness of the combustion chamber? If you can make the wall thicker (at a mass penalty), then technically you could worry less about engine pressure and contain higher pressures. Also, what about the ability to change different materials? Like, the ability to use titanium for greater strength for  a certain mass but at an increased cost.

[NSEP]

4 minutes ago, qzgy said:

Can you vary the wall thickness of the combustion chamber? If you can make the wall thicker (at a mass penalty), then technically you could worry less about engine pressure and contain higher pressures. Also, what about the ability to change different materials? Like, the ability to use titanium for greater strength for  a certain mass but at an increased cost.

I was thinking of exactly that. That would be a very good feature. Thanks!

[JPGSP]

On 6/24/2017 at 6:39 PM, NSEP said:

But for people like me, who want to make fully fictional rockets,

Or for people that want to recreate real rockets when there is not any engine for that rocket 

[Fixsme]

Apparently, no one can predict from theory what the thrust or Isp will be.

For instance, engines are constructed specifically for certain type fuels. For instance the size of the chamber is not the same if you use H2-LOX or Kerosene-LOX. And if I have understood correctly, engineers use results from already built engines to guess what their engine will produce for output.

I still need to find the source.

[Tyko]

On 8/29/2018 at 1:46 PM, Fixsme said:

Apparently, no one can predict from theory what the thrust or Isp will be.

For instance, engines are constructed specifically for certain type fuels. For instance the size of the chamber is not the same if you use H2-LOX or Kerosene-LOX. And if I have understood correctly, engineers use results from already built engines to guess what their engine will produce for output.

I still need to find the source.

True, there is a possibility of error, but there are enough LFO engines that one could extrapolate from that data set to estimate the performance of any other LFO engine size - assuming Squad's engines are consistent with each other, which I'm not sure about.

If you're looking at a different fuel type that exists in the real world you could compare how "LFO" engines in the real world compare to your fuel type and make a good estimate - LFO is pretty close to KeroLox I believe, so if you wanted to create a Kerbal HydroLox engine you could use the real world performance differences to build a model.

[Yoochem]

On 8/29/2018 at 10:04 PM, JPGSP said:

Or for people that want to recreate real rockets when there is not any engine for that rocket 

You , sir,certainly deserve the topic-bump-of-the-year award. 

Anyhow, this idea still sounds great! Anyone taking up the challenge?

[JPGSP]

Well , the only reason that I am kind of frustrated  with the fact that my procedural SRB doesn't appear in my ksp RSS/RO and there are no procedural engines mod for ksp ( I know its probably a hard thing to make) because one of my favourite thing to do in ksp RSS/RO is recreate rocket and without procedural stuff it will be hard to recreate some rockets/spacecrafts.

[Kernel Kraken]

This sounds cool. Children of a Dead Earth did this, so I bet it's possible in KSP.