"Solid booster fuel plugs"?

[SlabGizor117]

I was looking at the wiki page for planned features, and wondered what this was? I've never heard of it before.

Thanks for the help!

-Slab

[HoloYolo]

It probably means we got fuel lines for SRBs now.

[NoMrBond]

I think it was for assembling SRB's, so you could dunk a 'fuel plug' extension directly on top of an SRB and it would give it more fuel (i.e. SRB extenders which only worked when stacked)

[impyre]

IIRC "Fuel plugs" basically allow you to assemble segments of solid boosters in such a way that the upper one ignites after the lower one has finished burning. It allows you to extend the burn time of SRBs without changing thrust output. Just making SRB's longer would increase thrust because of how they work, but a fuel plug allows you to "segment" them to maintain a more constant thrust rate while extending burn times.

EDIT: ninja'd

[JTpopcorn]

This also means thrust curves would be possible, similiar to the space shuttle just google thrust curve.

[KatzOhki]

I was under the impression that this was related to the ability to choose the amount of fuel in the SRB, but maybe I'm wrong.

[impyre]

I was under the impression that this was related to the ability to choose the amount of fuel in the SRB, but maybe I'm wrong.

Solid fuel in SRB's is already tweakable.

[pincushionman]

Solid fuel in SRB's is already tweakable.

That's probably a good compromise to limit part count.

[Red Iron Crown]

An SRB plug is the mold around which the solid fuel is cast inside the rocket casing. Once the fuel is in place, the plug is removed leaving the void where combustion occurs. Careful shaping of the plug can be used to control how much thrust the rocket delivers throughout its burn, it is very rare for real life SRBs to keep constant burn rates like KSP SRBs do. You can see some shape of plugs and the associated thrust curves here: http://www.braeunig.us/space/propuls.htm#solid

Some mentioned modular length SRBs, I believe those are usually referred to as "segments".

[SlabGizor117]

An SRB plug is the mold around which the solid fuel is cast inside the rocket casing. Once the fuel is in place, the plug is removed leaving the void where combustion occurs. Careful shaping of the plug can be used to control how much thrust the rocket delivers throughout its burn, it is very rare for real life SRBs to keep constant burn rates like KSP SRBs do. You can see some shape of plugs and the associated thrust curves here: http://www.braeunig.us/space/propuls.htm#solid

Some mentioned modular length SRBs, I believe those are usually referred to as "segments".

Aahh, I see now, that makes sense. I knew that SRBs had that shape on the inside for more surface area and a thrust curve, but I didn't know that that's what a SRB fuel plug was. So, how would this be implemented, and how would it affect gameplay? It sounds very complicated.

[Zyffyr]

I assume that the intent would be to allow you to set the "Thrust Limiter" to multiple values based on percentage of fuel used. Something like :

100% until 20% used - get of the launch pad

60% until 60% - try to keep below terminal velocity for a while

100% until empty - Up reasonably high, so burn at max

[SlabGizor117]

I assume that the intent would be to allow you to set the "Thrust Limiter" to multiple values based on percentage of fuel used. Something like :

100% until 20% used - get of the launch pad

60% until 60% - try to keep below terminal velocity for a while

100% until empty - Up reasonably high, so burn at max

Yeah, it just seems a bit complicated for the style of KSP. Whatever, it's not a bad idea.

[StrandedonEarth]

Maybe it allows you to choose a shape for the plug, or perhaps even make your own custom shape. IIRC the STS SRB's started with a star shaped core/combustion chamber, for the maximum surface area to burn (= max thrust). As it burned the shape became rounder, reducing the thrust as the vehicle became lighter.