Evaluation of an Air-Stiffened Toroidal Sphere Subjected to Pressure

This paper proposes a framework on which to evaluate the quasi-static structural response of air-stiffened envelopes subjected to pressure loading, and it discusses the numerical response of the toroidal sphere air-stiffened envelope design. The air-stiffened design generalization is first introduced along with a discussion of the simulation components used to develop structural solutions using SIMULIATM Abaqus. Components include a hydrostatic formulation of the air–membrane interactions, contact, and geometric nonlinearity. The toroidal sphere design is then presented, along with a quasi-static solution developed under this framework. Discussions center around the role fluid–structure interactions have on structural collapse, and how fluid states serve as collapse indicators.