Non-Axisymmetric Inflatable Pressure Structure (NAIPS) Concept that Enables Mass Efficient Packageable Pressure Vessels with Sealable Openings

摘要

Achieving minimal launch volume and mass are always important for space missions, especially for deep space manned missions where the costs required to transport mass to the destination are high and volume in the payload shroud is limited. Pressure vessels are used for many purposes in space missions including habitats, airlocks, or tank farms for fuel or processed resources. A lucrative approach to minimize launch volume is to construct the pressure vessels from soft goods so that they can be compactly packaged for launch and then inflated in route or at the destination. In addition, there is the potential to reduce system mass because the packaged pressure vessels are inherently robust to launch loads and do not need to be modified from their in-service configuration to survive the launch environment. A novel concept is presented herein, in which sealable openings or hatches into the pressure vessels can also be fabricated from soft goods. To accomplish this, the structural shape is designed to have large regions where one principal stress is near zero. The pressure vessel is also required to possess an elongated geometry for applications such as airlocks. These two requirements led to the selection of a unique structural architecture that is referred to as a non-axisymmetric inflatable pressure structure (NAIPS). The NAIPS concept is described and its structural performance quantified in the present paper.