Time-Response Coupling and Analysis of Gas Sloshing in Airship Flight Dynamics

The airship's buoyancy is provided by a substantial volume of gas, which undergoes sloshing motion in response to the airship's movement, thereby influencing its dynamic behavior. This study couples the airship parameterized motion model with a multi-ballonet sloshing equivalent model, investigating the impact of gas sloshing on airship dynamics and enabling more realistic time-response simulations. Results show that sloshing absorbs motion fluctuations during state transitions but delays recovery from external disturbances, introducing high-frequency, low-amplitude oscillations. If the number of ballonets is insufficient, stability is threatened. The ballonet section’s natural frequencies, in particular, need to be considered when avoiding resonance. The model proposed can be applied to a wider range of airship layouts, ballonet arrangements, and environmental conditions, providing valuable insights for design and a more realistic foundation for control implementation.