Heat sinks

[322997am]

So I was thinking, spaceplane reentry is very challenging in terms of heat management. And also when a spaceplane is accelerating/a fast plane flying the heat will blow your cockpit up. So if there was a part called "heat duct" and it would function like the struts in terms of placing. Then you could move heat from the cockpit/wings/whatever into a part with high exposure or a part that gets heated and then jettisons/blows up. This would allow for a lot of new concepts and easier reentry for spaceplanes 

[322997am]

Also the radiators should work in the atmosphere.

[sal_vager]

Struts and fuel pipes conduct heat now, and radiators do work in atmosphere, though the folding ones can break off if subject to enough airflow.

[322997am]

But how much heat? I mean like a liquid heat sink.

[sal_vager]

They conduct heat, feel free to try it out

[pandaman]

Interesting idea, but I'm not sure how much this would be needed overall in play.  Obviously radiators aren't any use at speed in atmosphere, but other parts do conduct heat away from adjacent parts, as well as struts and fuel lines now as Sal said, so we already have that functionality.  That doesn't mean that there isn't any 'balancing' to be done, but I don't think the current settings are too far out overall.

 For your cockpit to stay cool you need to conduct heat away at least as fast as it's warming up (and its at the front, taking the full force of all that lovely friction remember).  The best way is stop it warming up as fast and/or as much, and the most obvous way to do that is to fly slower, which means adjusting the way you fly in terms of ascent and reentry profiles.  I struggle with this too so you are not alone, but it's a big issue IRL so it's only right that it's not easy in a fairly realistic game such as this.

 

[DancesWithSquirrels]

I would rather have a venting heat sink - a tank with the same capability of powered heat removal as the Thermal Control Systems (removing heat from anywhere in the craft), but which expends LF to cool. In essence a heat blow-off tank.

This could be a really nice method of handling something like Eve descents - have your excess heat absorbed by the sink(s), vented as gaseous LF, and provide high rate (but limited time) cooling without drag issues. It would also be a good mechanic to emulate heat shields such as the one described here, or discussed here. 

[pandaman]

31 minutes ago, DancesWithSquirrels said:

I would rather have a venting heat sink - a tank with the same capability of powered heat removal as the Thermal Control Systems (removing heat from anywhere in the craft), but which expends LF to cool. In essence a heat blow-off tank.

This could be a really nice method of handling something like Eve descents - have your excess heat absorbed by the sink(s), vented as gaseous LF, and provide high rate (but limited time) cooling without drag issues. It would also be a good mechanic to emulate heat shields such as the one described here, or discussed here. 

That looks like an interesting idea.  In game terms I presume the coolant would get consumed in a similar way to the ablative on heat shields, but it could be replenished by refilling in the same way as normal fuel tanks.

I like it, reusable heatshields that use existing game mechanics. 

[Randazzo]

2 hours ago, pandaman said:

That looks like an interesting idea.  In game terms I presume the coolant would get consumed in a similar way to the ablative on heat shields, but it could be replenished by refilling in the same way as normal fuel tanks.

I like it, reusable heatshields that use existing game mechanics. 

I think that's a spiffy idea.

[WillThe84th]

It's not that hard to survive reentry in a spaceplane, it just takes a lot of patience and some practice. I've found that the Mk 1 cockpit overheats easier than the Mk 2 and Mk 3 cockpits, so there are usually a better option. Another good technique is to pitch up and try to increase your vertical speed, so that you stay in the upper atmosphere and don't heat up as much.

[pandaman]

17 hours ago, WillThe84th said:

It's not that hard to survive reentry in a spaceplane, it just takes a lot of patience and some practice. I've found that the Mk 1 cockpit overheats easier than the Mk 2 and Mk 3 cockpits, so there are usually a better option. Another good technique is to pitch up and try to increase your vertical speed, so that you stay in the upper atmosphere and don't heat up as much.

But the 'venting heat sink' could be used in the same places, and in place of, a standard ablating shield.  So they could be used on non winged multiple use reentry vessels, or could be replenished between aeobraking orbits thereby increasing safety margins significantly.