Investigation on the Folding Mode and Deployment Process of an Inflatable Boarding Platform for the Marine Emergency Evacuation System

Abstract

The different folding and storage forms of an inflatable boarding platform will have a direct impact on the deployment effect of the marine emergency evacuation system. This paper proposes different folding and storage methods for an inflatable boarding platform in a marine emergency evacuation system. According to the difference between the fold line and the fold direction, the numerical models of a boarding platform with partial fold, "Z" type fold and inner spiral fold are established. The platform models with three folding modes are simulated by numerical simulation. According to the numerical results of the inflation process, the displacement changes of the inflatable membrane and the surface characteristics of the model are compared and analyzed, and the synchronization of the deployment process of the upper and lower airbags in three folding forms is studied. The deployment characteristics of different folding inflatable boarding platforms in different stages are analyzed. The numerical results are of great reference value to the folding and releasing process of an inflatable boarding platform and its practical design as well as its application in the evacuation system.

Compressive properties investigation of “stress transformer” based on high-distance woven spacer fabric design

“…Inflatable structures made of membrane materials have been widely applied in many fields, such as construction, protection, aerospace, and the automotive industries. [1][2][3][4][5][6] The compressive performance of the inflatable membrane material is determined by the cooperation of the membrane body and the internal air pressure. [7][8][9][10] At present, the membrane body is usually made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane or PVC-coated two-dimensional fabric material.…”

“…13 Because of their excellent characteristics such as lightweight, high strength, designability, and portability, high-distance spacer fabric flexible inflatable composites, which are prepared by compounding fabric (generally refers to a spacer fabric with spacer filaments more than 50 mm) 14 with PVC, are widely used in inflatable building, tents, aircraft wings, boats, and other consumer industries. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] In contrast with conventional spacer fabrics, the spacer yarns' main role in the highdistance fabric is to serve as a connecting pile in the fabric and allow the fabrication of inflatable composites with more complex cross-sectional geometries. [18][19][20] Therefore, the high-distance spacer fabric flexible inflatable composites can bear the loading by stabilizing the shape and rigidity of the structure.…”