Influences of the super pressure balloon design parameters on the floating performance

Abstract This paper investigates the structural behavior of super-pressure balloons under different design parameters at float altitude. Due to the significance of hoop stress and weight in the three-dimensional (3D) gore design of super-pressure pumpkin balloons, the different structure models using Abaqus software were established to describe the relationships among the governing design parameters. The effects of gore bulge radius and angle, the number of gores, balloon volume, and film thickness on hoop stress, balloon film mass, and hoop stress distribution were investigated. Based on the structural analysis, the results show that the gore bulge radius mainly affects the hoop stress magnitude consistent with the underlying theoretical predictions; whereas the gore bulge angle affects the balloon mass and hoop stress distribution along the gore width. Increasing the number of gores at the same bulge angle improves the hoop stress on the gore film without changing the total balloon weight and affects the hoop stress distribution along the gore length. Increasing the number of gores at the same bulge radius raises the hoop stress on gore sides and reduces the balloon film mass. Balloon volume affects the hoop stress magnitude and distribution at different bulgeradii. Film thickness is directly proportional to balloon mass and inversely proportional to hoop stress. These findings provide valuable design insights and can support the development and optimization of future super-pressure balloons.