[1.12.5] Sterling Systems v0.4.10 [Feb 02, 2025]

[DareMightyThingsJPL]

6 minutes ago, JadeOfMaar said:

30 minutes ago, DareMightyThingsJPL said:

consuming either a custom resource (eg, carbon 14) very slowly

Nah. I'll have it just be separate parts then. There will only be 4 of them anyway: 1x, 3x, 6x and 12x.

Yeah, makes more sense when you put it like that. 

[MrWalrus123]

Is there supposed to be a difference with the foundries and chemistry centers? for some reason all of them do the same thing (smelt metal ore and scrap metal). I have sandcastle, extraplanetary launchpads, and kerbal colonies installed.

[JadeOfMaar]

@MrWalrus123 The EL module specific config is bugged. Make sure to only have Molten Metal Foundries on your vessel for when I release the fix to that.

[JadeOfMaar]

@Saybur Stuff Some more thoughts on heatshielded noses to go with the adapter wrapper shields. The Mk1's look good from one axis or the opposite but not both, thanks to Mk2 adapters' odd shapes.

I may add some bluntness to them to respect that the pressures of reentry would absolutely shave them down a bit.

[Manul]

3 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

The Mk1's look good from one axis or the opposite but not both, thanks to Mk2 adapters' odd shapes.

This adapter is a crime against aerodynamics and the other crime is the lack of Mk2 nosecone in stock. I guess these parts somehow slipped from pre Porkjet times when most aircraft parts looked like lego bricks.

Edited March 25 by Manul

[JadeOfMaar]

@Manul All/Only noses.

 

[DareMightyThingsJPL]

On 1/25/2025 at 4:37 PM, JadeOfMaar said:

I do contemplate making a suite of radiators for 650K which would be aimed at some ISRU devices. The stackable liquid film radiators provide that but they're rather bulky and too big for anything less than some sort of mothership. I'd like to possibly go with Aluminium Oxynitride instead as it's commercially available and shares its melting point with the stock wing boards. That, paired with molten Tin for coolant would make for a very visually pleasing potential rival to liquid film radiators. But I'm not wise enough in Thermodynamics to anticipate what all might be very wrong with this.

I've had a nerd friend shoot down my proposal for such radiators before, so I'm slow to be excited again.

If you are still looking into making some 500-650 K radiators, I found a source that may be helpful.

Spoiler

C-C heatpipe is what the study dicusses, optimium temperature range 700-800 K. It even provides pictures and diagrams. All black and white, though.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19980236936/downloads/19980236936.pdf

 

Edited March 27 by DareMightyThingsJPL
Clarity in wording

[DeadJohn]

@JadeOfMaarI finally got around to installing Sterling Systems. Thanks for making it. You'll also recognize your adopted OPT in the attached image.

New Update with TLDR: some of your part variants that upgrade heat tolerance are only setting maxTemp for the internal temperature. It appears that if you don't explicitly set skinMaxTemp it gets left behind at its original default value which makes the part just as explodey during reentry regardless of the upgrade (since skin temp tends to heat up before internal). As usual, I could be wrong and maybe there's something else weird with my installation.

The 1.25m wraparound solar panel is overheating and exploding surprisingly early. I've upgraded the panel to "Advanced" that states 1600K heat tolerance. In flight, though, it explodes and the F3 info says it exploded because it exceeded 1200K. Viewing critical temperatures in Kerbal Engineer during flight shows that the panel's internal temperature limit is 1600 while its skin limit is 1200.

I had a theory for the issue. The part definition WrapPVS1.cfg sets maxTemp = 1200. skinMaxTemp is not explicitly set which I think triggers KSP to default skinMaxTemp = maxTemp. Later, the upgrade in B9PS.cfg resets maxTemp = 1600, but skinMaxTemp might stay at 1200 rather than re-defaulting because it already has a value. I then sort-of-confirmed the theory by adding maxSkinTemp = 1600. It was much harder to make the part blow up, and KER and F3 properly showed the new 1600K limit.

Edited Thursday at 04:05 PM by DeadJohn
added TLDR after more testing

[JadeOfMaar]

@DeadJohn I think I get it. I've made a hotfix pre-release (configs only) for your issue. Do download it and let me know how that works out.

@DareMightyThingsJPL I get that the heat pipe is but a component of the radiator, however, it adds to my understanding of the anatomy of the things. I have some items in the works which will appear in the World Power family. The "scroll" here is inspired by the concept of a rolling/inflating radiator with phase changing coolant (see page 4 of this PDF). I'm not necessarily keeping the phase change aspect but hoping I can get away with "it becomes rigid with enough fluid pressure" or thermal based shape memory material whose technology name I forget.

The scroll has 5x16m surface area (I might make it taller by default or give it height options) and is currently expected to provide 2.39 MW at 500 K. (This is just under 1/4 -- 2.5 MW, of what's necessary to deal with the FFT Antimatter generator, which I believe there is no mod for radiators to properly deal with it.)

 

The hexagon umbrella (larger; the hexagon itself fits inside a 14m circular area) offers 3.96 MW at 500 K. Its bottom node is 1.25m. (The tiny one's bottom node is 0.313m. It should be adequate for any 0.625m craft.)

[DareMightyThingsJPL]

2 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

The "scroll" here is inspired by the concept of a rolling/inflating radiator with phase changing coolant (see page 4 of this PDF). I'm not necessarily keeping the phase change aspect but hoping I can get away with "it becomes rigid with enough fluid pressure" or thermal based shape memory material whose technology name I forget.

Huh, I've never heard of that concept before, I think it's unique! After looking. I'm pretty sure you're referring to thermally induced shape-memory in polymers, and shape-memory alloys in metals.

2 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

The hexagon umbrella (larger; the hexagon itself fits inside a 14m circular area) offers 3.96 MW at 500 K. Its bottom node is 1.25m. (The tiny one's bottom node is 0.313m. It should be adequate for any 0.625m craft.)

I haven't seen any SystemHeat-supported umbrella radiators. I think it's important to note that some concept photos of VASIMR have umbrella radiators.

2 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

The scroll has 5x16m surface area (I might make it taller by default or give it height options) and is currently expected to provide 2.39 MW at 500 K. (This is just under 1/4 -- 2.5 MW, of what's necessary to deal with the FFT Antimatter generator, which I believe there is no mod for radiators to properly deal with it.)

YESSSS If there is something I've always found frustrating is cooling the Antimatter Facility. 

[DeadJohn]

4 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

I think I get it. I've made a hotfix pre-release (configs only) for your issue. Do download it and let me know how that works out.

Confirmed fixed. I tested the 1.25m part in-game and spot-checked some of the other configs.

[DareMightyThingsJPL]

On 3/28/2025 at 6:02 AM, DareMightyThingsJPL said:

I'm pretty sure you're referring to thermally induced shape-memory in polymers, and shape-memory alloys in metals.

Found this article on radiators that change shape based on temperature. https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasas-new-shape-shifting-radiator-inspired-by-origami

Spoiler

An extract from the article

Quote

"Under the partnership, Brigham Young University assistant professor Brian Iverson and doctoral student Rydge Mulford are advancing the design of a three-dimensional, foldable radiator, while Dwivedi is developing a coating to enhance the radiator’s heat-shedding or conservation capabilities.

This novel radiator controls the rate of heat loss by performing shape-shifting maneuvers. The resulting topographical changes could be achieved with temperature-sensitive materials like muscle wire or shape-memory alloys. As temperature-sensitive materials experience a change in temperature — caused by spacecraft electronics or the absorption of heat from the Earth or sun — the radiator could automatically change its shape to either shed or conserve heat.

The deeper the folds or cavities, the greater the absorption, explained Mulford, adding that scientists have investigated the use of cavities to affect heat loss for nearly 100 years, but no one has approached the challenge in quite this way. “Origami allows you to change the depth of these cavities in real time, thereby changing the heat loss from a surface in real time,” he said.

One Step Further

The team, however, wants to take the concept one step further.

Dwivedi, meanwhile, is working to advance a highly emissive coating principally made of vanadium oxide, a transition metal oxide. Dwivedi’s idea is to then apply the special coating on the origami radiator. He also is investigating its potential use on other spacecraft components, including solar-array panels.

In testing, vanadium-oxide has shown that it transitions from a semiconductor to a metal state when it reaches 154 degrees Fahrenheit. The changeover causes an increase in emissivity, Dwivedi said. Because satellites encounter wildly fluctuating temperature changes on orbit, Dwivedi’s goal is to lower the transition temperature."

 

Edited Friday at 09:04 PM by DareMightyThingsJPL
Grammar correction

[JadeOfMaar]

World Power solar PV panel type 2. (Single parts, clustered for perspective.) Rated for 30 EC/s before upgrades. For your Mun base linear solar farm delight. Will come with distinct parts for:

• Swivel (uses Yaw to track Sun; Pitch is on manual)
• Flip (uses Pitch to track Sun; Yaw is on manual)

[DareMightyThingsJPL]

I noticed some localization that is unused for some presumably either WIP or discarded engines. I've made an issue report on the Sterling System GitHub page