Need help with ModuleCoreHeat

[Laie]

Trying to make a thermonuclear power source for Realism Overhaul. The device is very much like a RTG, only that the heat comes from an actual fission reaction.

The desired outcome would be for the device to reach it's nominal temperature of 900K, *and* to provide peak electrical output at that temperature. Absent enough cooling, it should overheat and throttle down. What happens is anything but; electrical output can reach 100% at much lower temperatures and appears to depend on available cooling more than anything else.

Would anyone know why this is so?

Full WIP part definition: http://ksp.schnobs.de/RSSRO/BES-5.cfg

What I believe to be the most interesting lines:

        TemperatureModifier
                {
                        key = 0 10000
                        key = 900 5000  //shows up as 100kW required cooling
                        key = 1200 2000  
                        key = 1400 0
                }                               
	ThermalEfficiency 
                {
                        key = 0 0 0 0
                        key = 500 0.3 0 0
                        key = 900 1.0 0 0
			key = 1000 0.8 0 0
                        key = 1200 0.1 0 0
                        key = 1400 0 0 0 
                }

MODULE[ModuleCoreHeat]
        {
                @CoreTempGoal = 900                     //Internal temp goal - we don't transfer till we hit this point
                @CoreToPartRatio = 0.8                   //Scale back cooling if the part is this % of core temp
                @CoreTempGoalAdjustment = 0              //Dynamic goal adjustment
                @CoreEnergyMultiplier = 0.8              //What percentage of our core energy do we transfer to the part
                @HeatRadiantMultiplier = 0.05            //If the core is hotter, how much heat radiates?
                @CoolingRadiantMultiplier = 0            //If the core is colder, how much radiates?
                @HeatTransferMultiplier = 0              //If the part is hotter, how much heat transfers in?
                @CoolantTransferMultiplier = 0.01        //If the part is colder, how much of our energy can we transfer?
                @radiatorCoolingFactor = 1               //How much energy we pull from core with an active radiator?  >= 1
                @radiatorHeatingFactor = 1            //How much energy we push to the active radiator
                @MaxCalculationWarp = 1000               //Based on how dramatic the changes are, this is the max rate of change
                @CoreShutdownTemp = 1400                 //At what core temperature do we shut down all generators on this part?
                @MaxCoolant = 120                        //Maximum amount of radiator capacity we can consume - 50 = 1 small
        }

 

[NathanKell]

@RoverDude, you're the expert here!

[Streetwind]

I always like to recommend the New KSP API Documentation for such questions. It's a wiki containing all the classes (including PartModules like ModuleCoreHeat) in KSP, and within them, all the fields and methods they possess.

Unfortunately, ModuleCoreHeat does not appear to be documented yet. Since it's a community effort, such a thing is expected. But perhaps once you learn how the module works, you could help with adding to the documentation, so that others can look it up in the future?

Edited August 8, 2016 by Streetwind

[Laie]

paging @RoverDude... you're my only hope.