Dynamic Simulation of a breakaway Aerostat with Emergency Deflation Valves

摘要

This paper presents a mathematical model for predicting the motion of an aerostat after tether breakage. Aerostats are equipped with emergency deflation valves for safe recovery of payload in case of accidental tether breakage. The trajectory of breakaway aerostat depends on the number and locations of these valves. The dynamic simulation of an aerostat is carried out by setting up and solving equations of motion in a three dimensional space, considering the effect of added mass, aerodynamic forces and ambient wind velocity. The model is implemented in MATLAB™ and simulation results are generated for input data of a sample aerostat. A comparison of aerostat trajectories for a few valve configurations is presented along with some inferences.