A novel inflatable rings supported design and buoyancy-weight balance deformation analysis of stratosphere airships

Owing to the unique advantages in flight altitude, dwelling time and wide coverage area, stratospheric airships provide permanent monitoring and surveillance for both civil and military applications. Here we propose a semi-rigid stratosphere airship design with circumferential high-pressure inflatable rings and a longitudinal carbon fiber skeleton supported inside. We perform numerical simulations to analyze the deformation characteristics during the whole ascending and descending process. An equivalent internal gradient pressure model of helium is established based on the capsule shape and buoyancy-weight equilibrium conditions. The implicit dynamic method is used to deal with the large deformation of the airship capsule under a low negative pressure condition. Deformation and load-bearing performance of the airship capsule, inflatable ring, skeleton, and suspension line are obtained under different working conditions. The results show that the airship, supported with the inflatable rings and the suspension lines, effectively maintains the shape and ensures the stiffness during the ascending, dwelling, and descending stages, especially suffering from negative pressure.