Edge Effects in Pressurized Membranes
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 128, Issue 10
Abstract
Developing membrane structures for space-based applications is an effort to reduce launch mass and stowed volume. Accurate modeling of 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 movements during the inflation or prescribed spring constants 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 a compression zone appears, wrinkles are formed. Numerical results show that there is a limited amount of inward movement at the edge before the formation of wrinkles. The numerical results are also compared with an analytical solution.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Croll, J. G. A. (1985). “A tension field solution for non-linear circular plates.” Aspects of the analysis of plate structures: A volume in honor of W. H. Wittrick, D. J. Dawe, R. W. Horsington, A. G. Kamtekar, and G. H. Little, eds., Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 309–323.
Hencky, H.(1915). “Uber den Spannungszustant in kreisrunden Platten.” Z. Math. Phys., 63, 311–317.
Jenkins, C.(1996). “Nonlinear dynamic response of membranes: State of the art-update.” Appl. Mech. Rev., 49(10), S41–S48.
Jenkins, C. H., and Marker, D. K.(1998). “Surface precision of inflatable membrane reflectors.” J. Sol. Energy Eng., 120(4), 298–305.
Kao, R., and Perrone, N.(1971). “Large deflections of axisymmetric circular membranes.” Int. J. Solids Struct., 7, 1601–1612.
Storåers, B.(1983). “Small deflections of linear elastic circular membranes under lateral pressure.” J. Appl. Mech., 50(12), 735–739.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 128 • Issue 10 • October 2002
Pages: 1100 - 1104
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 3, 2001
Accepted: Jan 15, 2002
Published online: Sep 13, 2002
Published in print: Oct 2002
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.