Stratospheric Balloons

Yajima, N.; Imamura, Takeshi; Izutsu, Naoki; Abe, Toyoo

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-09727-5_3

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…According to the Archimedes principle of buoyancy, the buoyant force F b is equal to the volume of gas displaced by the aerostat that is equivalent to aerostat volume V a , times the gravity g and density of surrounding air ρ a (Yajima et al , 2009): …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of hull fineness ratio and fin parameters on the optimization of tethered aerostat

Mahmood

Ismail

2021

AEAT

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Purpose This paper aims to optimize the mass of a tethered aerostat to achieve optimum hull volume, and fins to generate aerodynamic lift to reduce the blow-by. Design/methodology/approach The design code of aerostat involving structure, aerostatics, aerodynamics and stability has been developed using MATLAB®. The design code is used to obtain the baseline configuration for a tactical aerostat mission by using the statistical values of the hull fineness ratio and the fin parameters of in-service aerostats. The effect of the design variables that include the hull fineness ratio, fin area and fin position on the aerostat mass and blow-by is determined through sensitivity analysis. The aerostat is optimized with an objective function of minimization of mass for the bounded values of design variables and taking blow-by limit as a constraint. Findings This study reveals that the simultaneous optimization of the aerostat hull fineness ratio, fin area and fin position results in an improvement in the design. The aerostat design with optimum values of these parameters helps in a reduction in its size and mass without compromising the blow-by limits. Research limitations/implications This study has been conducted by keeping the hull shape constant by selecting standard National Physics Laboratory envelope shape. The aerodynamic model used in the design code is based on empirical relationships that can be improved in future studies that can use high fidelity aerodynamic models using CFD based surrogate models. Originality/value The previous studies on optimization of aerostats are limited to hull envelope shape only, whereas this paper presents the optimization of the hull and fin together. The optimized configuration obtained has a reduced mass and can operate within the specified blow-by limits.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of hull fineness ratio and fin parameters on the optimization of tethered aerostat

Mahmood

Ismail

2021

AEAT

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“…Payloads more massive than 2 kg are generally lifted with two balloons. We have developed a unique capability of floating payload for a long period of time (in principle, 5-20 hours) without using any valve to leak out excess gas to stop bursting or dropping ballasts in order to maintain a minimal height as is the practice for larger balloons [5]. This is achieved by a so-called booster-orbiter configuration where lifts of the balloons are adjusted in such a way that only booster bursts at, say, H b letting orbiter to slowly come down to an equilibrium height of H o where neutral buoyancy is achieved.…”

Section: Achievement Of Long Duration Flights: Lift-valve Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of properties of cosmic rays and solar X-ray flares by balloon borne experiments

et al. 2013

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Indian Centre for Space Physics is engaged in pioneering balloon borne experiments with typical payloads less than ~ 3.5kg. Low cost rubber balloons are used to fly them to a height of about 40km. In a double balloon system, the booster balloon lifts the orbiter balloon to its cruising altitude where data is taken for a longer period of time. In this Paper, we present our first scientific report on the variation of Cosmic Rays and muons with altitude and detection of several solar flares in X-rays between 20keV and 100keV. We found the altitude of the Pfotzer maximum at Tropic of Cancer for cosmic rays and muons and catch several solar flares in hard X-rays. We find that the hard X-ray (> 40keV) sky becomes very transparent above Pfotzer maximum. We find the flare spectrum to have a power-law distribution. From these studies, we infer that valuable scientific research could be carried out in near space using low cost balloon borne experiments.

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Stratospheric Balloons

Cited by 2 publications

References 10 publications

The effect of hull fineness ratio and fin parameters on the optimization of tethered aerostat

The effect of hull fineness ratio and fin parameters on the optimization of tethered aerostat

Study of properties of cosmic rays and solar X-ray flares by balloon borne experiments

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