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Showing results for tags 'trade mass for stiffness'.
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I have not seen auto strutting or played 1.2 yet. That said, IRL we rarely need to use external struts on high speed craft. Instead, we add mass by thickening the gauge of metal or composite used on monocoque structures, add internal spars, stiffeners, or build an internal truss. Struts are appealing for craft that don't see much of the atmosphere while they are flying quickly because the aerodynamic costs of the struts are offset by mass savings in comparison to overall thickening of materials, etc.. This is why we see struts all over Cessnas or modern biplanes. (Antique biplanes used struts and wires to maintain the rigidity of the wing box due to the limitations of spruce and other materials at the time, but I digress.). Anyway, can we get a slider that trades overall craft mass for overall craft rigidity? That would get us thinking about when to use struts v. When to use heavier materials.
