IN-FLIGHT GUST AND LOAD MEASUREMENTS ON AN AIRSHIP FOR MODEL-BUILDING AND COMPARISON WITH THE TRANSPORT AIRSHIP REQUIREMENTS

摘要

Airships with a combination of the pressure and rigid construction principles represent a new kind of construction where loads by gusts can be important for the design. The loads by gusts are described in the Transport Airship Requirements (TAR) by an empirical equation, which determines the maximum bending moment caused by the gust. This equation was derived from experiments with rigid airships and has been modified following the experience with blimps; its validity for airships with a combination of both construction principles has jet not been proved.To get information about the behavior of an airship in gusts with regard to the inner loads a research project has been carried out by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the manufacturer of the airship Zeppelin NT (Fig.l), the Zeppelin Luftschijftechnik GmbH Friedrichshafen (ZLT). The result was an extensive collection of data from measurement flights, containing the gust velocity in direction and magnitude as well as the bending moments and cross forces. Based on this data models have been developed which give information about the longitudinal bending moment caused by vertical gusts.