STRUCTURAL ANALYSES FOR THE MODIFICATION AND VERIFICATION OF THE VIKING AERO SHELL

摘要

The Viking aeroshell is an extremely lightweight flexible shell structure that has under¬gone thorough buckling analyses in the course of its development. In this paper the analytical tools and modeling technique required to reveal the structural behavior are presented. Signifi-cant results are given which illustrate the complex failure modes not usually observed in simple models and analyses. Both shell-of-revolution analysis for the pressure loads and thermal loads during entry and a general shell analysis for concentrated tank loads during launch were used. In many cases fixes or alterations to the structure were required, and the role of the analytical results in determining these modifications is indicated.