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Maybe this is by design. Maybe they are giving more thought to how they want the shell to blow apart rather than making it as strong as possible. Once the thin
by gexla 6y ago
Maybe this is by design. Maybe they are giving more thought to how they want the shell to blow apart rather than making it as strong as possible.
Once the thing decides it's going to explode, then the shell just needs an exit plan. The shell isn't going to hold anything together at this point.
- maxerickson 6y agoWhy would they prioritize behavior during catastrophic failure over the strength-weight ratio?
- gexla 6y agoWouldn't strength only need to get to a certain "good enough" point rather than "as strong as possible?" Maybe the shell is already at that point? And after that point, maybe all there is left to concern yourself with is how it behaves in an explosion. As with any thing designed to explode (grenade, bomb, etc.) Maybe they want for the thing to come apart in a certain way rather than holding together?
- maxerickson 6y agoSpace thingies are never light enough. That's why I asked about the strength-weight ratio and not the strength.
- Kye 6y agoA lift capacity of 110 tons might be enough to have engineering priorities other than weight.
- maxerickson 6y agoYou think cool explosions are among them? My first guess at an explanation, assuming the first poster is correct about the panels and welds, would be that they haven't narrowed down their specifications of the panels and welds yet, not that they have purposely left the welds as the weakest portion. Another guess would be that they are using identical panels in many locations and have thinner welds in some of them. But that is sort of the same thing as above, because they'd likely make different panels as production volume increased.
- gexla 6y ago> You think cool explosions are among them? Could be, considering we're talking about Elon Musk. If you know the thing is going to get caught on video exploding, then might as well make a good show of it. > would be that they haven't narrowed down their specifications of the panels and welds yet Sure, it's a prototype. Maybe they'll revisit welds on the next one. Or maybe they'll figure out a way to make explosions look even more cool.