Experimental and Numerical Determination of Strength Characteristics Related to Paraglider Wing with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy of Applied Materials

Abstract

The aim of paper is to determine experimentally and numerically the strength characteristics related to the paraglider wing with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of applied materials. The applied method consists in theoretical modeling supplemented by the tests of material parameters. First, the set of 10 lightweight fabrics was selected for the tests; the samples are representative for these structures. The materials were tested using the spectroscopy to determine the FTIR spectra. The samples differ in the content of certain characteristic groups. Air permeability change of the materials was determined for the different pressure drops. The air permeability of almost all the analyzed samples was close to zero with the exception of only one material. The tensile strength and elongation at the break of samples were determined on the testing machine. The paraglider samples were characterized by slightly decreased mechanical properties compared to the parachute fabrics. The material characteristics determined during the tests are the input data for the theoretical analysis. The numerical model of the paraglider wing is based on a 3D geometry from previous research, but the stress, strain, and deformation were determined using the ANSYS Structural program and the finite elements method. To determine the strength correctly, we introduce two basic values: the absolute maximal and the representative values that are the biggest repetitive values of stress, strain, and deformation. The stress value was determined by the main factors: (i) the thinner the material, the bigger the stresses that were accumulated; (ii) the stronger the material, the bigger the stresses that were accumulated. The results are similar for all materials and differ mainly by the values. The biggest stresses were observed inside the material contacting the ribs, whereas the biggest deformation and strain were in the regions between ribs, and the smallest were in the contact areas with the fixed supports. Their highest intensity was observed on the leading edge of the paraglider. We conclude that the obtained stresses were far from the breaking level for the wing.

Influence of Material Degradation on Deformation of Paraglider during Flight

“…Depending on the composition of the impregnation, it may influence its final density. Therefore, the higher mass of the final product does not always indicate greater thickness of it (see samples 2 and 6); the exact chemical groups were studied in previous research [26]. All the samples are of air permeability tending towards zero, when not subjected to degradation, which is further studied in the subsequent sections.…”

“…The Young's modulus values that were applied to the analyzed fabrics were determined according to the above and the scheme described in [26]. They are listed in Table 5 below.…”

“…The article is focused on an experimental and numerical study of the influence of material degradation on the deformation of a paraglider during flight. It is a continuation of the previous study regarding the experimental and numerical determination of strength characteristics related to a paraglider wing with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of applied materials [26]. The previous studies did not consider predicting the paraglider covering degraded materials' behavior in flight, which can be helpful in the initial assessment of safety of a used paraglider or speculating its life cycle length.…”

Effect of Shear Modulus on the Inflation Deformation of Parachutes Based on Fluid-Structure Interaction Simulation

“…Parachutes and other inflatable aerodynamic decelerators are used in many applications, such as vehicle recovery, Mars exploration, and airdrops, due to their small size, lightweight and low cost [1][2][3][4]. Parachute canopy is composed of flexible fabric materials, using woven fabrics designed to meet specific manufacturing or structural requirements.…”

Numerical Modeling of the Thermal Insulating Properties of Space Suits

“…The thermal insulation problem chiefly involves textile The utilized textile materials are Rip-Stop-type fabrics, enhanced with the addition of a stronger fiber at fixed intervals. They are light, durable and impermeable to air and water vapor [13].…”