From Kerbal Space Program Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Wobbling occurs when a structural joint is unstable and cannot support the forces acting on it. This is one of the most common causes of catastrophic failures.

Wobbling becomes more significant with physics warp turned on. A message will appear when the player tries to push physics warp more than 2x, telling players that it may affect the craft's structural stability. It is recommended not to push physics warp to more than 2x with rocket engines running.

The part wobbling will clip through the craft occasionally, and may break off if the stress is too great. It is usually visible by parts oscillating with high amplitudes: The part is moving a great deal in any direction although it should be fixed. This issue is usually rectified with the EAS-4 Strut Connector.

The following examples are the most prone to wobbling (assuming they are not strutted properly):

  • Tall rockets
  • Stack decouplers attached to engines (the engine may separate from the decoupler)
  • Radially-attached boosters which are not on radial decouplers
  • Smaller parts between bigger parts. All stress is going through the small connections to the smaller part. E.g. parts stacked in this order: a 2.5m fuel tank, a 1.25m tank, a 2.5m tank. It gets even worse when several small parts are connected in a row.
  • A powerful engine pushing against a small docking port like when a 3.75m engine is pushing two docked craft while the docking port is the two sizes smaller Clamp-O-Tron Docking Port