Boosters just falling off [Mostly Stock]

[lewisd]

I was having a weird and frustrating problem with a ship yesterday evening.

After adding a bunch of solid boosters around the outside of my enormous ship, I decided it wasn't quite enough, so I slapped some radial decouplers onto the side of an upper stage, used long framework trusses so the exhause would clear the lower stage, and stuck a solid booster on the end. I put a launch clamp on the solid booster as well, and used some struts to help support the booster. That worked fine. It was kind of like this (top view)

o===OOOOO===o

(it's actualy built in 8x symetry, one O tank in the middle, 4 around it, then 8 around the outside, in 8 symetry from the center. Sorry I don't have any pics handy.)

The problems came when I put a solid booster on either side of that one (shown on the left booster, but I did it to the right one as well):

o

o===OOOOO===o

o

As soon as I got it on the launch pad, some of the new boosters would just fall off as soon as the physics kicked in. I added struts galore, holding the side ones to the middle one, and to the closest fuel tank, and they'd still fall off just as frequently. I even tried separating the 3 solid boosters with the tiny truss pieces (and tons of struts), but they still would just fall off.

Is there something I'm not understanding? Are direct booster-to-booster connections really weak or something? I've stuck boosters on the side of big orange tanks before, without having them just fall off, so I don't understand what's going on.

It's a rather... large... ship. A bit over 800 parts (I can see the jaws dropping and heads shaking from here), but I was able to run it at around 4 FPS on my new gaming rig, so what the heck.

[Moar Boosters]

I think booster - booster connections are pretty weak.

I think the problem also comes from having stuff too far away from the main core. When the physics kick in, each joint flexes a little bit. If you have a bunch of pieces like this --------0--------- those movements will amplify as they move away from the central core, so the ones at the end take a really big jolt when the physics kick in.

Personally I wouldn't bother with solid boosters if you need that many. Instead of using 3 boosters on each section, build your own liquid booster. You can chose the right engine/tank combo which has the right amount of power, it'll make the structure more stable and it's only 2 parts instead of the 3 solid boosters, which will obviously help if you're building massive rockets.

[BubbaWilkins]

If what your saying is you have a giant pancake of solid boosters on 8x symmetry. Then yes, you appear to be having structural failure. Even if you managed to get it to stay together on the launch pad, I expect that it was pull itself apart the moment you launched it. those side connections are pretty weak and usually you'll not want to extend out from the core engine/tank more than one ring of boosters.

[Diazo]

If pieces are falling apart on the pad, you will probably have problems in flight.

However, to at least to the flight part, you can use the launch gantries to minimize how much flex there is when the physics kicks in.

D.

[lewisd]

However, to at least to the flight part, you can use the launch gantries to minimize how much flex there is when the physics kicks in.

I have launch gantries attached to each of the boosters on the trusses, just not to the ones right beside them, and the ones beside them keep falling off. The launch gantries should mean the middle ones don't do any wiggling around, and they stay on, but the ones attached right beside them drop like flies.

[Diazo]

I meant put them on the boosters falling off as well.

Just do not be surprised if they go spiraling off on their own as soon as you throttle up.

The point is to get past that first 'tick' of physics calculations and have the craft settle, hopefully once that is done things will work out.

D.

[lewisd]

Yeah, I guess I could try that. But as you say, they'll probably just go spinning off once I launch, if they won't even stay on against gravity.