Call for collaborators - Mechanical Engineering Reference Guide for Add-on Authors

[sumghai]

I'd go for a new major subsection for Cutaways. It'd be nice to populate it with a few more items to justify the new subsection.

[Mattasmack]

What does everyone think of adding a section with cutaways to the sticky? ...

If you do add this image to such a section, it would be good form to credit the author. (Stephan Biesty and/or Richard Platt; I'm not sure which book this illustration came from. And I doubt either of them has released it under CC or to the public domain.)

How much do you trust it? At a quick glance, I see that it claims the Saturn V first stage ran on paraffin (rather than kerosene) and oxygen. The paragraph labelled 1 for the first stage is a rather mangled description of the separation of the interstage on the bottom of the second stage (not usually considered part of the first stage at all). Seeing those right off the bat makes me think it's not useful except for very general illustrative purposes.

[sumghai]

Rokker's taken some really nice photos from his last trip to the museum, and has added descriptions to all of them:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/135838-Some-reference-photos

I'm thinking of either adding a link to the entire galley as part of a new subsection, or individually curating each image into the existing subsections.

Thoughts?

[CaptainKipard]

IMO As a collection it would be better placed in the dev sticky along with all the other reference material.

Alternatively I could move all the reference material from the dev sticky to the engi sticky, and just add the link to the album.

Personally I would prefer to see the images added individually with labels and arrows.

Or both. I mean all of them are great for artists, but not all of them would be more useful for engineering-minded artists.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Cpt. Kipard

[Racescort666]

I haven't read through the entire thread but from the first few pages and jumping around on it, it looks like you guys are looking for references for mechanisms and such. Is this still the case?

I came across this thread while trying to figure out if I could use Solidworks to model parts for mods. (The answer is still unclear but I'm leaning toward no.)

Anyway, my whole desire to do mods was that I thought it would be cool to make mods that had cool moving bits. Well, since I know more about cool moving bits than how to make mods, I figured I'd offer to help make some. My background is in mechanical engineering and I currently work in automotive but I worked briefly in aerospace.

[CaptainKipard]

Any help is appreciated. If you're an engineer or a serious hobbyist, that's preferable.

Have a look at the main thread OP (link in my signature). There are a few empty headings that could use filling if you're up for it.

You can also keep an eye on the Add-on Development section and Modelling and Texturing Discussion of the forum and bring relevant technical questions to our attention here.

Cheers

Edited October 22, 2015 by Cpt. Kipard

[CaptainKipard]

I have a specific request for something. Is anyone who's reading this an aero engineer or a hobbyist?

I'd like to get back to modding again and I need to know how control surface mechanisms look IRL for something big like the Skylon.

Cutaways, CAD renders and animations, cross sections.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Cpt. Kipard

[sashan]

I have a specific request for something. Is anyone who's reading this an aero engineer or a hobbyist?

I'd like to get back to modding again and I need to know how control surface mechanisms look IRL for something big like the Skylon.

Cutaways, CAD renders and animations, cross sections.

Okay, I'm graduating this winter as AE engineer. I guess you're mostly interested in external visible parts?

I can recommend you this site: http://buran.ru/htm/homepage.htm It's mstly in Russian, with English version being stubby but google translate will allow you to find pictures. I'm looking through it in search for elevon details right now.

EDIT: Here it is! http://buran.ru/htm/wings.htm

EDIT2: The fuselage around canards and tail fin would mopst probably be flattened out, like here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dirkjankraan/5268467716/

That is Boeing 757, like most of other jets it has adjustable elevator that can rotate around horizontal axis to act as trimmer.

Heatshield tiling would also be beavily reinforced, as these areas are always very hot on reentry.

Edited November 7, 2015 by sashan

[CaptainKipard]

So the pivots of the ailerons and elevators on Buran are at the bottom of the wing? Is that what that animation is showing?

[sashan]

So the pivots of the ailerons and elevators on Buran are at the bottom of the wing? Is that what that animation is showing?

Yes, exactly. That allows to reduce seams, protecting it from reentry heat. I bet Space Shuttle has something similar.

Can we move over to Skylon thread?

[CaptainKipard]

Can we move over to Skylon thread?

If you want to talk about the Skylon mod specifically then that would be the best place for that but I asked the question here because ideally I'd like to see some public domain images and animations so that we can add it to the engineer's handbook thread where all modders can benefit from it.

If you come across anything like that, or anything else aero-engi-related that you think modders could use then post it in this thread.

Edited November 9, 2015 by Cpt. Kipard