Development of a super-pressure balloon with a diamond-shaped net
Abstract
The essential mechanism for the lobed-pumpkin shaped super-pressure balloon to withstand against the high pressure is that the local curvature of the balloon film is kept small. Recently, it was found that the small local curvature can also be obtained, if the balloon is covered by a diamond-shaped net with vertically elongated shape. In addition, this method has following merits; 1. the weight of the balloon can be reduced by using a weak but light film and a fine mesh net, 2. the deployment problem known for the lobed-pumpkin shaped balloon can be solved due to its lack of additional films, 3. the capacity of resist pressure is not spoiled severely due to the manufacturing error of the net, since the local distortion of the mesh size does not affect the global balloon shape. First, a 3-m balloon using a polyethylene film and a net using Kevlar ropes was made for the confirmation of this method. The inflation test showed the expected high burst pressure. Then, a 6-m and a 12-m balloons using a polyethylene film and a net using the Vectran were developed and checked their stable deployment through the ground inflation tests. The flight test of a 3,000 m^3 balloon will be performed in this spring. In this paper, the method to cover a balloon with a diamond-shaped net will be explained and the results of ground and the flight tests will be reported.
- Publication:
-
39th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- July 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012cosp...39.1654S