Thermoelastic Behaviors of Fabric Membrane Structures

Abstract

The thermoelastic behaviors of an inflatable fabric membrane structure for use in a stratospheric airship envelope are experimentally and numerically investigated. Mechanical tensile properties of the membrane material at room, high, and low temperatures are measured using an Instron (R) universal testing machine and an Instron thermal chamber. To characterize the nonlinear behavior of the inflated membrane structure due to wrinkling, the bending behavior of an inflated cylindrical boom made of a fabric membrane is observed at various pressure levels. Moreover, the envelope of a stratospheric airship is numerically modeled based on the thermoelastic properties of the fabric membrane obtained from experimental data, and the wrinkled deformed shape induced by a thermal load is analyzed. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2008