franchise-star-trek-tng-technical-manual1

B.a tniuinitbKifliu uptKAiiuniiiAmu SAI-NY6.3.1 IPS fusion reactor replacementTransfer aisle •IPS reactor Port 3 •6.3 ENGINEERING OPERATIONS AND SAFETYAll main impulse engine (MIE) and saucer module impulseengine (SMIE) hardware is maintained according tostandard Starfleet MTBF monitoring and changeout schedules.Those components in the system exposed to the mostenergetic duty cycles are, of course, subject to the highestchangeout rate. For example, the gulium fluoride inner linerof the impulse reaction chamber (IRC) is regularly monitoredfor erosion and fracturing effects from the ongoing fusionreaction, and is normally changed out after 10,000 hours ofuse, or after 0.01 mm of material is ablated, or if >2 fractures/cm 3 measuring 0.02 mm are formed, whichever occurs first.The structural IRC sphere is replaced after 8,500 flight hours,as are all related subassemblies. Deuterium and antimatterinjectors, standard initiators, and sensors can be replacedduring flight or in orbit without the assistance of a starbase.Downstream, the accelerator/generator (A/G) and drivercoil assembly (DCA) are changed out after 6250 hours, or ifaccelerated wear or specific structural anomalies occur. Inthe A/G, the normal need for changeout is brittle metalphenomenon resulting from radiation effects. During flight,only the accelerator assemblies may be demounted for nondestructivetesting (NDT) analysis.Similarly, the DCA is subject to changeout after 6,250flight hours. Normal replacement is necessitated by EM andthermal effects created by the driver coils. None of the DCAassemblies may be replaced in flight and all repair operationsmust be handled at a dock-capable starbase. The vectoredexhaust director (VED) is serviceable in flight, requiring theleast attention to deteriorating energy effects. All directionalvanes and actuators may be replicated and replaced withoutstarbase assistance.Operational safety is as vital to the running of the IPS asit is to the WPS. While hardware limits in power levels andrunning times at overloaded levels are easily reached andexceeded, the systems are protected through a combinationof computer intervention and reasonable human commands.No individual IPS engine can be run at >115% energy-thrustoutput, and can be run between 101% and 115% only alonga power/time slope of t=p/3.The IPS requires approximately 1.6 times as many manhoursto maintain as the WPS, primarily due to the nature ofthe energy release in the fusion process. The thermal andacoustic stresses tend to be greater per unit area, a smallpenalty incurred to retain a small engine size. While warpengine reactions are on the order of one million times more energetic,that energy is created with less transmitted structuralshock. The major design tradeoff made by Starfleet R&D isevident when one considers that efficient matter/antimatterpower systems that can also provide rocket thrust cannot bereduced to IPS dimensions.