Edge Effect in Pressurized Membranes

Developing membrane structures for space-based applications is an effort to reduce launch mass and stowed volume. Accurate modeling the shape after deployment is very important to the high-precision inflatable structures for space applications. This paper presents a numerical study of the inflation of an initially plane membrane with circular boundary. The simulations were conducted using the nonlinear FEM code ABAQUS. Two types of boundary conditions are imposed. The conditions are either prescribed boundary movement during the inflation or prescribed spring constant for the springs that are attached to the rim of the membrane. Zero tensile stress is considered as the condition on the verge of forming wrinkles. When compression zone appears, winkles are formed. Numerical results show that there is a limited amount of edge movement before the forming of wrinkles.