Let's talk wall thickness...

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

OK here's a question that I've always wanted to ask:

What are typical traveller Bulkhead and Interior Wall thicknesses on a standard deckplan?

What about Hull Armor? Anyone have any thoughts on how to scale the exterior thickness of the ship hull? Maybe something based on the Armor Code or tech level.

 

[aramis]

I use 5cm (scaled) for Bulkead widths, 2cm for partition walls

Note: 2cm is about as thick as two sheets of drywall...

 

[veltyen]

I tend to use 7.5 and 15cm, that's mainly from using a 20 pixel grid/1.5m for the first level layout. Gives enough room for wiring.

As for armour, for some designs I calculate the approximate shape of the vessel, and then calculate the thickness based on that. Generally from a multiple axis sphere where the equation is

4/3 x Pi x r1.r2.r3

Calculate the volume of the vessel with and without the armour, and from that gain an understanding of the approximate thickness.

Most of the time this differs very little from the "Make Shit Up" school of approximation however.

 

[The Oz]

I calculate armor thickness based on the HG value, using the armor table from Striker and taking my best guess at the material used (based on the TL of the ship's construction). I assume a "moderate" slope to the armor as a middle position.

 

[atpollard]

In architecture, a general rule of thumb for all walls, floors, beams and columns is the ratio of length to thickness should not exceed 20 to 1 (for reasons of internal stability). There are some tricks to allow higher ratios, but this is a good initial approximation for most common purposes.

A 3 meter tall wall should be 0.15 (3/20) meters thick. A floor/ceiling spanning 6 meters across (the narrow direction) should be 0.3 (6/20) meters thick. A column 9 meters tall supporting the decks above the cargo hold should be 0.45 (9/20) meters on each side. If you wanted 50 meters of hull between internal points of reinforcement, then the hull should be 2.5 (50/20) meters thick.

Note that all of these thickness do not imply a solid block of material, just the distance between the inner and outer face of the wall, deck or hull.

Here is a link to give a general idea of WHY. Ignore the math and just look at the pictures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckling

 

[atpollard]

If anyone wanted some "color" to a deck plan, the 20:1 ratio mentioned above is based on "minimizing the deflection under stress" [don’t let the floor bend too much or the plaster ceiling below it will crack]. The walls, floors, columns and hulls could be made much thinner and still be safe, but they will flex more. Imagine a ship where the deck bounces as you walk along it, or a wall that bends in and out whenever the ship maneuvers.

"Don't pile the boxes directly against the hull. Leave a little room for the ship to move or it may crush the cargo."

 

[Gadrin]

OK here's a question that I've always wanted to ask:

What are typical traveller Bulkhead and Interior Wall thicknesses on a standard deckplan?

What about Hull Armor? Anyone have any thoughts on how to scale the exterior thickness of the ship hull? Maybe something based on the Armor Code or tech level.

while it doesn't deal in specifics about size/width etc, the Interior Details of Starship Deckplans at the beginning of Supplement 7 Traders and Gunboats
deals with the makeup and hit point/damage ratings of bulkheads, doors, partitions, interior walls and the like.

you might find it relative.

 

[aramis]

Given that, on current naval vessels, the floor is about 1cm to 2cm thick, much of the difference can be made up for with the open rafters used.

A lot also depends on if one assumes non-bulkhead walls to be load bearing. I don't. Therefore, 2cm is adequate (and I assume it's essentially corrugated sheet between two non-corrugated sheets).

 

[Golan2072]

I use 20cm for external hulls and bulkheads (much more if armored) and 10 cm for internal ones. The big difference is not just in thickness, but also in composition: external/bulkhead walls are solid metal/crystaline-mesh/superdense (depends on tech), while internal walls are actually 2x 1cm sheets sandwitching piping, wiring and instruments (except for the corners where there are solid beams for support). Floors are 30cm think but usually hollow like walls and full of wiring; they also offer (limited) crawlspapce in places to maintain the infrastructure.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Given that, on current naval vessels, the floor is about 1cm to 2cm thick, much of the difference can be made up for with the open rafters used.

Is that on above water ships or subs? There would be a difference, I would think. I find it interesting that we have hundreds of ships that can survive upwards of 100 atmospheres of pressure under water, but we have very very few ships that can survive at zero pressure.

 

[aramis]

Judging from the shows on the construction, that's the same for both. The hulls, however, are very different.

A sub's interior is not designed for multiple dozen atm of differential.

 

[Icosahedron]

I tend to go for sizes that are easy to draw in scale!
The buckling ratios might be improved with high tech, stiffer materials, but personally I can't imagine an effective cabin door being much thinner than about 5cm, and surely the walls would be no thinner than the doors?
Realistically, I imagine bulkheads would be no thicker than the floors; after all they do the same job and usually have a smaller surface area and hence greater stiffness. Just my Cr2.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

I think floors would be pretty thick, maybe as thick as they are shown in Traders and Gunboats. Walls are another story. Precedence has been set for things like Superdense and other high performance synthetics. Even by TL 9 there would be some great options. By TL 15? I bet you could have a 5mm Thick door or better.

I am working on typical module CAD drawings of things like staterooms, etc. I remember first thinking of it when I worked on a client's art installation. The thing I wound up making was a 7' cube clad in sheet steel. I used an HDF core with the steel held on by long flat tape magnets. The walls ended up extremely strong and less than an inch thick.

 

[ravells]

I use 20cm for external hulls and bulkheads (much more if armored) and 10 cm for internal ones. The big difference is not just in thickness, but also in composition: external/bulkhead walls are solid metal/crystaline-mesh/superdense (depends on tech), while internal walls are actually 2x 1cm sheets sandwitching piping, wiring and instruments (except for the corners where there are solid beams for support). Floors are 30cm think but usually hollow like walls and full of wiring; they also offer (limited) crawlspapce in places to maintain the infrastructure.

Golan, although I agree with your lengths and breadths, I am not so sure about your heights.

Ravs