Modeling and analysis of floating performances of stratospheric semi-rigid airships

In recent years, the study of semi-rigid airship has revived with the development of airships. Semi-rigid airships have some characteristics of rigid airships and non-rigid airships. Due to the flexibility of the envelope of the non-rigid airship, the variation of the temperature of the inner gas will lead to its structure deformation and affect its flight altitude. This paper develops the structural mechanics model, thermodynamic model and dynamic model of the semi-rigid airship, based on which nonlinear finite element analysis is employed for geometrically nonlinear deformation of the airship upper film in consideration of thermodynamics and structural mechanics coupling. Based on the thermal-structural interaction, the thermal characteristics and flight performances of the airship during floating flight are investigated. The 3-D solar radiation and temperature distribution of the airship skin and the temperature variation of the inner gas are presented to investigate the thermal performance of the airship, flight velocity, acceleration and flight altitude are simulated to investigate the flight performance, and the variations of the volume and pressure difference of the inner gas are calculated to provide a basis for structure design. The results of the simulation can be referenced for the design of the semi-rigid airship, and can be used for the further study on the attitude control of the airship during its floating flight.