Simgrav
Simulated gravity, commonly abbreviated as simgrav, refers to the use of repulsor or antirepulsor fields to mimic the effects of gravity within a certain volume, particularly aboard a spacecraft or station. Since, unlike previous methods of artificial gravity, it does not require large and mechanically complex rotating sections or constant fuel expenditure by running an engine, simgrav has come into increasing use in the modern period.
A simgrav field is set up to affect a certain volume, such as a compartment or portion of a deck in a ship, and works by applying a constant "downwards" force on all the matter inside, including people. Objects dropped within this region will "fall" to the ground, and effort must be spent working against the simgrav projectors to pick them up again.
Simgrav fields can also be used to counteract acceleration, by having the system apply an opposing force exactly equal in magnitude to the thrust produced by the ship's engines. This is especially useful for ships designed for planetary landings, as they can use horizontal deck layouts which puts access hatches closer to the ground and, in small vessels, cuts down on the need to constantly change decks. There is risk to this, however, particularly in that a failure of the simgrav system will result in "real" gravity reasserting itself and sending all unsecured objects and crewmembers flying towards the rear bulkheads. Hence, ships using simgrav with horizontal deck layouts typically keep their accelerations low, around one-tenth to one-quarter of a gravity, so failures do not present as great a risk of injury, and rig up a safety system to cut the engines if the compensator field goes off. Since the latter is not an option in some cases, particularly on ascent from planets, all crew must be strapped in at these times.
Warships with simgrav retain the classic "skyscraper" layout as their crews must be able to move through the ship to access systems and repair damage at all times.
Note that this is not true gravity, and hence cannot generate effects like lensing or time dilation. Light beams, comprised of photons instead of fermionic matter, are completely unaffected by simgrav projectors.
Most interplanetary ships in the Starweb still use rotational gravity, or omit it entirely and stay in free-fall when their engines are off. Simgrav systems are complex and expensive, and the extra mass they add is often not worth it for small vessels. Some old spacers will swear they can tell the difference between simulated and "true" gravity.
Simgrav fields can also be used to counteract acceleration, by having the system apply an opposing force exactly equal in magnitude to the thrust produced by the ship's engines. This is especially useful for ships designed for planetary landings, as they can use horizontal deck layouts which puts access hatches closer to the ground and, in small vessels, cuts down on the need to constantly change decks. There is risk to this, however, particularly in that a failure of the simgrav system will result in "real" gravity reasserting itself and sending all unsecured objects and crewmembers flying towards the rear bulkheads. Hence, ships using simgrav with horizontal deck layouts typically keep their accelerations low, around one-tenth to one-quarter of a gravity, so failures do not present as great a risk of injury, and rig up a safety system to cut the engines if the compensator field goes off. Since the latter is not an option in some cases, particularly on ascent from planets, all crew must be strapped in at these times.
Warships with simgrav retain the classic "skyscraper" layout as their crews must be able to move through the ship to access systems and repair damage at all times.
Note that this is not true gravity, and hence cannot generate effects like lensing or time dilation. Light beams, comprised of photons instead of fermionic matter, are completely unaffected by simgrav projectors.
Most interplanetary ships in the Starweb still use rotational gravity, or omit it entirely and stay in free-fall when their engines are off. Simgrav systems are complex and expensive, and the extra mass they add is often not worth it for small vessels. Some old spacers will swear they can tell the difference between simulated and "true" gravity.
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