Ore tanks constantly breaking off

[Klapaucius]

Is it just me or are ore tanks unusually susceptible to breaking off?  I realize they are heavy, but it seems no matter how much I strut them, they are the weak point.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

As I understand it the radial attachment points are never as strong as node based ones, plus the extreme weight?

That'd be my guess anyways.

Out of curiosity auto struts or regular ones? Have you tried both?

[Superfluous J]

I haven't had anything ever just fall of a rocket. No matter the weight or connection method.

I'd like to see the craft, image or craft file.

[Klapaucius]

5 hours ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

As I understand it the radial attachment points are never as strong as node based ones, plus the extreme weight?

That'd be my guess anyways.

Out of curiosity auto struts or regular ones? Have you tried both?

Both.  It does have only a solid attachment on the rear, but I used this design before and nothing broke off just going over a small bump.

 

I''ve run into this same issue with Submarines. I've had parts just drop off.

 

 

[Adsixnine]

Thank for info guys

[Rocket In My Pocket]

What does the log say about it?

Perhaps it could shed some light on where/what is breaking?

[Aeroboi]

@Klapaucius Do you use autostrut? It's a option when right clicking on a part when you have "Advanced tweakables" activated in general settings on the main menu. 

1:Whenever a part is serially attached like the ore tank is I find that using the "grandparent" autostrut option works best. You have been strutting the ore tank in a serial stack to a parallel stack. IIRC this does pretty much nothing to strengthen it. You would only want to do that if the parallel stack wiggles or when it is the parallel stack that falls of. The parallel stack can be easily strengthened using heaviest and grandparent struts on the parts of the parallel stacks. I have a very confident feeling that nothing would change much whether you have all those struts connected or not. My experience is that autostruts are much stronger then the part strut. I actually never use it for anything to be honest since autostrut is part of this game.

2:It is also best to put the heaviest part on a vessel closest to the landing gear or landing legs or anything else that supports the structure. Best is to design the craft so that the heaviest part has the landing gear on it.

3:It could also be that the Mk 2 to 2.5m adapter clips inside the ore tank. Sometimes when parts collide into the mesh of another part it may explode or fall of. If you land and hit the surface at ~5-15 m/s and there is some clipping one part can move into another and this problem could easily occur. As per the pictures, it seems you were landing or roving about using downward thrust Was there any impact velocity?

 

Edited September 16, 2018 by Aeroboi

[Klapaucius]

1 hour ago, Aeroboi said:

@Klapaucius Do you use autostrut? It's a option when right clicking on a part when you have "Advanced tweakables" activated in general settings on the main menu. 

1:Whenever a part is serially attached like the ore tank is I find that using the "grandparent" autostrut option works best. You have been strutting the ore tank in a serial stack to a parallel stack. IIRC this does pretty much nothing to strengthen it. You would only want to do that if the parallel stack wiggles or when it is the parallel stack that falls of. The parallel stack can be easily strengthened using heaviest and grandparent struts on the parts of the parallel stacks. I have a very confident feeling that nothing would change much whether you have all those struts connected or not. My experience is that autostruts are much stronger then the part strut. I actually never use it for anything to be honest since autostrut is part of this game.

2:It is also best to put the heaviest part on a vessel closest to the landing gear or landing legs or anything else that supports the structure. Best is to design the craft so that the heaviest part has the landing gear on it.

3:It could also be that the Mk 2 to 2.5m adapter clips inside the ore tank. Sometimes when parts collide into the mesh of another part it may explode or fall of. If you land and hit the surface at ~5-15 m/s and there is some clipping one part can move into another and this problem could easily occur. As per the pictures, it seems you were landing or roving about using downward thrust Was there any impact velocity?

 

1. Yes, I use autostrut, though I have never been clear on how the different options play out.  So in this case, I was using both. Also, those struts were parallel and attached crossways to the side pieces. You cannot really see that in the picture.

2. True, however, this same design with a regular fuel tank in place of the ore tank does not have the same problem.  Also, landing gear on ore parts tends to create other shock issues, and sometimes they get pushed up.

3. There was a small impact, but again, previous designs did not have this issue. The ore tank and processor were added to extend the range.

[Ultimate Steve]

I've had this happen too, a while ago. Ore tanks in cargo bays. I don't even think they were filled.

[Plusck]

Ore tanks are weak, however you attach them.

However, radial attachments are progressively weaker the further out they are from the thing they're attached to.

This was a test I tried in version 1.2 (I think):

With the tanks surface-attached with the default positioning, they break off relatively easily:

Spoiler

However, if you offset them a bit into whatever you're attaching them to, the connection is significantly stronger:

Spoiler

Edit:

Sorry, I only just took a good look at the pics. So you're talking about node attachment and not surface. Hmm.

Still, whatever you do you have to be careful with ore tanks, they are the weak point in any design.

However, I've never seen a case like yours where it just beaks off at the attachment node while driving along. On a heavy landing, however, yes it can easily break off.

Sorry I can't suggest much to solve your issue. However I can say that it doesn't entirely surprise me.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Plusck