Overlapping engines and thrust output?!

[Arugela]

If engines output is overlapping does it affect the thrust or the affect of the thrust? I have Ion engines squeezed together so that I get more in a small space but they technically block each other. I also have a nuclear engine in the middle of them sticking out for space purposes. Are these affecting each other by the game logic or do they work fully?

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii613/PicsMe101/KSP/Screenshot%20from%202015-01-24%20015024_zpsnw22bfx7.png' alt='Screenshot%20from%202015-01-24%20015024_zpsnw22bfx7.png'>

That little cluster in the middle(the round gold/blue things), just behind the Nuclear engine are 33 Ion engines. the outside engines from what I can tell are saying 2 thrust but I can't click the middles ones because of the overlap. I also don't know if there is anything outside of the stated thrust that could affect it's actual performance practically during burns.

Edited January 24, 2015 by Arugela

[UmbralRaptor]

Ion engines, RCS, and O-10s do not have thrust impingement, so it doesn't matter. They'll work fine no mater what's "in the way." For "normal" engines (at least jets, SRBs, and liquid fuel engines), it only matters if the exhaust stream is pointed at another part (in which case you get no thrust, and that part gets damaged.) If there's nothing in the F3 log, then don't worry about it.

[Arugela]

does an equal ammount of thrust have less affect from Ions than from a nuclear engine? It has more ISP but I have 33 Ions producing 66 thrust and it seems less affective than 1 nuclear producing 60.

[John FX]

It depends on your Thrust to Mass ratio. 60 thrust will push 1t a lot more than it will push 5t.

EDIT : Are the engines on the same craft? if so then they should provide the same performance.

[UmbralRaptor]

does an equal ammount of thrust have less affect from Ions than from a nuclear engine? It has more ISP but I have 33 Ions producing 66 thrust and it seems less affective than 1 nuclear producing 60.

It's difficult to say without seeing your craft, but the acceleration is probably lower. 66 ions mass 8.25 tonnes (and depending on how you designed the craft, there may be quite a few more tonnes of batteries and/or solar panels), while the LV-N masses 2.25. So the LV-N variant is probably lighter and has a higher TWR. (Well, depending on how you chose propellant amounts)

[Arugela]

The engines are on one craft. The image of it's engines are in the first post. Is the image not showing up? The Nuclear engine is sticking out of a small condensed set of 33(8+8+8+1) Ion engines in the back middle of the craft.

http://i1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii613/PicsMe101/KSP/Screenshot%20from%202015-01-24%20015024_zpsnw22bfx7.png' alt='Screenshot%20from%202015-01-24%20015024_zpsnw22bfx7.png'>

[Laie]

Do you happen to have scientific instruments on that vessel, specifically the seismic accelerometer?

Right click, toggle display, open throttle. It will give you your acceleration down to three significant digits.

If you have 66kn from ion or 60kn from the nuke, there should be a 10% difference. If there isn't, something is probably wrong with your ions.

You can also click the Info icon in map view to see your current weight and calculate the acceleration you should have, then compare it to the accelerometer reading.

[Motokid600]

There's ALOT of clipping going on there. I'd be scared of the ship coming apart after warp.

[SpacedCowboy]

Wow!, that's quite the ship you've got there. The basic design is nice. However, aside from the over-lapping engine problem, there's another major problem with solar panels; There's way too many! Try thinning them out a bit, like about by half, and while in the VAB, using the "Gizmo Tools", angle them out in such a manner that they won't be shading each other out. And back to the original problem; using the rotation gizmo, try flaring those ions out from the nozzle of that (whatever that engine is in the middle) ps. OBTW think you've got enough intakes there

Edited January 26, 2015 by SpacedCowboy
added thought