Priyanshu Kumar

22B0060
Aerospace Engineering
Types of Airships:

Rigid Airships: Rigid airships have a rigid internal framework, which maintains their shape. The
infamous Zeppelin airship (which caught fire just before landing in 1937) was an example of this type.
In general, rigid airships have a good weight to volume ratio only when their length exceeds around
120 m. The solid internal framework is considered too heavy for a small rigid airship. The use of
composite material can perhaps obviate this.

Semi-rigid Airships: Semi-rigid airships were more popular earlier this century. They usually comprise
a rigid lower keel construction and a pressurized envelope above that. The rigid keel can be attached
directly to the envelope or hung underneath it. The airships of Brazilian aeronaut Alberto Santos-
Dumont were of this type. One of the most famous airships of this type was Italia, used by General
Umberto Nobile in his attempt to reach the North Pole.

Non-rigid Airships: Non-rigid airships, also known as Blimps, are the most common type nowadays.
They are large gas balloons whose shape is maintained only by their internal overpressure. The only
solid parts are the passenger car and the tail fins. All the airships currently flying for advertisement
purposes are of this type; the Goodyear Blimps, the Budweiser and the Metlife Blimps in the USA,
and the Fuji Blimp in Europe.

Hot Air Airships: Hot air airships, also known as thermal airships, are counted as a fourth kind
although they are technically part of the non-rigid category. Hot air airships are derived from
traditional hot air balloons. Early models were almost like balloons with an engine and tail fins
added. Later, the envelopes were lengthened and the tail fins and rudder were pressurized by air
from the wash of the propeller. Newer hot air airships maintain their shape with internal
overpressure in the whole envelope, a feature which older models did not have.
Reference: https://www.aero.iitb.ac.in/~airships/index_files/page0001.htm

Part 1: Airship Aerodynamics and Forces

Principle of the Airship working -

The airships operate by the Principle of Archimedes: "Bodies submerged into a fluid receive from it a
lifting force which is equal to the mass of the displaced fluid. The airship is filled with a lifting gas
(Helium). The atmospheric air has a higher specific weight than the lifting gas. The airship envelope
filled with the light gas generates a lift that is equal to the weight of the displaced air and the airship
floats in the heavier air.
Reference: https://www.aero.iitb.ac.in/~airships/index_files/page0001.htm

Given –

A rigid Airship, Streamlined shape with length, l = 100 meters & diameter, d = 25 meters.

Airship filled with helium, Total mass = 15000 kg.

Sea level conditions –

Part A –

The lift force generated by the rigid airship when it is at rest in calm air. Assume standard
atmospheric conditions at sea level.

As this is rigid airship, it is assumed that there is no change in the Volume i.e. V is constant.

Therefore,

Volume, V = pi*((d/2)2)*l = 49087.38 m3

There is and another approach for volume that is,

But we will go further with the initial one,

Density of helium at sea level conditions also the pressure inside was considered as equal to the
outside:

So, the lift is calculated as:

Lift, L = B – W {B = Buoyant force, W = total weight of the airship}

There the lift will be,

Ld is the ‘disposable lift’ of the gasbag; this is the lift available for crew, fuel, payload, ballast and
supplies when the fixed ‘empty’ weight W, has been subtracted from Lg, the ‘gross lift’ of the gasbag.
Reference(book): Airship Technology edited by Gabriel A. Khoury & J. David

Types of Altitudes –
 Source: Ae152 course Slides by Prof. A. M. Pradeep

o Geometric altitude (10 Km) –

-Density of air at 10 km from sea level:

The value of comes from the concept of Temperature distribution in the standard
atmosphere. It will be discussed further.
-Density of Helium at 10 km altitude form sea level:
We already calculated density for helium at sea level i.e. = 0.169 kg/m3
Now,
 But the thing here is that the volume and mass both have not changed but the density difference
is occurred. Maybe gas distributed to very small some areas where it was not earlier so the density
changed.

Therefore further the lift:

o Geopotential altitude (10 km) –

Approx. same values of lift if considered that g = g0 , means acceleration due to earth is not
considered to be change.

Part B –
Given: Coefficient of drag, Cd = 0.4 & Velocity at which Airship is moving in the calm air, V =
20 m/s.
As we know for Airplane of wing span Area A the coefficient of lift and Coefficient of Drag are

CL = Lift/(0.5p V2 A) Cd = Drag/(0.5 p V2 A) ,

For an aircraft as its lift is entirely depend on the wing so the relevant area A is the wing span area.
But for the Airship A is not unambiguously defined, and also it is known that the largest fraction of
the total drag is due to Frictional forces. For this reason many reports use force coefficients in which
A is the surface area.

Also Lift of a buoyant craft is related directly to its volume so A is often chosen to be (Volume)2/3 . so
here, the drag based on these assumption is calculated as:

Taking A = (Volume)2/3
 {Considering conditions of Sea level}

Readings from Airship Technology edited by Gabriel A. Khoury & J. David:

……As written above about the lift coefficient and Drag coefficient of Airship which are similar to the airplanes
the reason for this is that the aerodynamic forces are divided by the dynamic heads of the incident flow V and
a reference area A.

Young calculated for bodies based on R101 shape, he showed the variation of A/l2 as a function of d/l (d/l is
called as Thickness ratio).

A/I2 = 2.33 d/l

Also, Vol/I3 = 0.465(d/l)2

From here a conversion factor came between CDv and CDA.

As the major contribution in drag is from frictional forces. So minimum frictional drag will be from
minimum surface area. And the minimum surface area for a given volume is sphere shape.

But it have disadvantages of high form drag (Form drag: The drag caused by the separation of the
boundary layer from a surface and the wake created by that separation. As symmetry of the pressure
distribution over the front and rear of the body is destroyed.)

The body with the shape of revolution about the axis in the direction of flight. On this shape the from
drag get reduced.

The variation of Drag with the thickness ratio was examined by Young. And the data was as follows:
Conclusions from this data: as the thickness ratio increased the drag coefficient depending upon the
surface area is increasing means the body is getting closer to the spherical shape which will give
increased form drag.

Small changes in shape of bodies of revolution with the same thickness ratio may result in
appreciable changes in surface area. Total drag, however, was little affected.

Hoerner (1957) analysed experimental data and compared them with theory to produce empirical
formulae which may be used to assess the drag of bodies. In his section 6c he deals with the drag of
streamline bodies. For most airships the flow over the hull is turbulent and for these conditions it
was deduced that:

CDV/Cf = 4(I/d)1/3 + 6(d/l)1.2 + 24(d/l)2.7

Cf = Skin friction drag, Hoerner suggests that Cf for practical levels of surface roughness and for

Re > 5 x 106 varies as:

Cf = 0.043/Re1/6

So we have Re satisfying the hoerner’s condition, therefore:

Hoerner introduced the formula which shows the dependency of the drag on thickness ratio,
frictional forces and the flow separation combinedly. And the frictional coefficient is also depending
on the Reynolds number which infact depends on the distance at which separation is happening. And
from this expression the values of the drag coeff. Were close but showed similarity like as can be
seen in the comparison table below that after d/l ratio of 0.20 both CDV Values get increased.

……..

Part 2: Control Surfaces and Motions

1.1 Airplane control surfaces:

Every aircraft, whether an airplane, helicopter or rocket, is affected by four opposing forces: Thrust,
Lift, Drag and Weight (Fig. 1). Control surfaces, such as the rudder or ailerons, adjust the direction of
these forces, allowing the pilot to use them in the most advantageous way possible.

Leading edge flaps: Leading edge flaps are used to increase both the lift coefficient and the camber
of the wing. These are frequently used in conjunction with trailing edge flaps and can reduce the
nose-down pitching movement produced by the latter. A small increment of leading edge flaps
increases lift to a much greater extent than drag.
Reference: https://shorturl.at/eiW57
Speed brakes: Speed brake are high drag producing control surfaces. These are used in almost all
high performance military aircraft and some commercial aircraft. In most cases these panels are
mounted on fuselage but not always. Ex. BAE146 the speedbrake are mounted on the tailcon.
Reference: https://shorturl.at/dpxE1

Spoilers: Spoilers when extended, increases drag and also decrease lift by disrupting the airflow over
the wing. The three distinct functions of spoilers: Ground Spoilers (During the landing ground roll or
rejected take off, these spoilers panels are extended to max angle. The function of these is to
maximizing brake efficiency by decreasing lift and forcing the aircraft to get the weight on to the
landing gears as soon as possible.) Other two are Speedbrakes itself and Roll spoilers.
Reference: https://shorturl.at/dpxE1

Trailing edge flaps: These are deployed during takeoff to increase lift as it increases the camber. By
increasing the lift at lower speeds, trailing edge flaps help reduce the aircraft’s stall speed.
Reference: https://shorturl.at/hILN1

…..Some Control surfaces that are not so common:

Canards: A canard is a fuselage mounted, horizontal surface that is located forward of the main wing
to provide longitudinal stability and control. Depending upon the installation, it may be a fixed,
moveable or variable geometry surface and may or may not incorporate control surfaces.

Canards Kruger flaps

Reference: https://shorturl.at/qBDJX

Krueger flaps: These are mounted on the bottom surface of the wing and are hinged at their leading
edges. Actuators extend the flap down and forwards from the under surface of the wing thus
increasing the wing camber which, in turn, increases lift. B747 and Boeing 737-700 have this.
Reference: https://skybrary.aero/articles/krueger-flaps

…….

2. Airplane control surfaces (ailerons, elevator, and rudder):

Ailerons: Are used to generate rolling motion, to bank the aircraft. They usually work in oppositions
as if one sided aileron is up than other wing’s will be down. The banking happens as one flap is down
it generate more lift and the other flap is up it generate lesser lift. This causes a torqueabout the
center of gravity and hence these control surfaces are used in rolling motion of aircraft.
 Reference: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/VirtualAero/BottleRocket/airplane/alr.html

Reference: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/11/7/185

The results of the simulation are:

Looking at the comparison between these results at two different angles of attack, (1deg and 3deg ),
it can be noted that, while the hinge moment is slightly affected by the angle-of-attack variation, the
maximum roll moment is achieved for 𝐴𝑜𝐴=1deg

Reference: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/11/7/185

Elevators: The elevator is used to control the position of the nose of the aircraft and the angle of
attack of the wing. Changing the inclanation of the wing to the local flight path changes the amount
of lift which the wing generates. This, in turn, causes the aircraft to climb or dive. When the elevator
is upward the lift generated at the end of fuselage becomes negative which causes a torque
downward at the end & vice versa when elevator is downward. Because of which the Pitching motion
of the aircraft are controlled. The resulting motion can be seen in the image (left to the reader).
 Reference: https://shorturl.at/dAUX2

Rudder: It is also called as a vertical stabilizer. The rudder is used to control the position of the nose
of the aircraft. It is not used to turn the aircraft the turning are done by roll only. It offers yaw
motions of the aircraft. It ensure that the aircraft is properly aligned to the curved flight path.
Otherwise if the nose and aircraft are not aligned in the same path than that will cause additional
drag. When the rudder is deflected in left side the lift generated the vertical stabilizer is towards right
and so a force get applied on the right side. Therefore, it generated a torque in right side at the end
of fuselage. The resulting motion can be seen in the image.
Reference: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/VirtualAero/BottleRocket/airplane/rud.html

In these both simulations the flow separation regions are shown with gray contours. In the second
case AFC (Active Flow Configuration) is on. This thing does suppression of flow separation and
therefore the increase in pressure on the vertical fin up to the tip can be seen.
Reference: https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.J056959
 Control surfaces and various components of An Aircraft (red underlined are CS)

1.2 & 3. Airship control surfaces:

..

Ballonet: Compartment of variable volume constructed of fabric or partitioned of within the interior
of a balloon or airship. It is usually partially inflated with air under control of valves from a blower or
from an air scoop. By blowing in or letting out air, it serves to compensate for changes of volume in
gas contained in the envelope and to maintain gas pressure, thus preventing deformation or
structural failure. By means of two or more ballonets, often used in nonrigid airships, the trim can
also be controlled.

Elevator: Movable auxiliary airfoil, function of which is to perform pitching movement on the airship.
The elevator is usually hinged to the stabilizer.

Rudder: Movable auxiliary airfoil function of which is to perform yawing movements on air in normal
flight. It is usually located at rear of airship.
Reference: “Airship Aerodynamics Technical Manual” Federal Aviation Administration

..

*Horizontal tail fins are the Elevators & vertical tail fins are the Rudder. As detailed in about these in
Aircraft function of these are same.

Other componennts:

…..

Engine: It generates the motion of the Airship against the Drag.

Gondola: This is where the pilot and passengers sit and is made of high-tech composite materials. It
consists of the cockpit, cabin area and landing gear. The pilot and passengers are seated inside the
envelope in a spacious cabin that is enhanced with large windows. These windows surround the base
of the envelope and offer excellent visibility.

Helium valves: The pressure of the helium in the envelope is adjusted by changing the amount of air
in the ballonets. Normally, blimp pilots do not have to add or remove helium from the envelope.
However, there is a helium valve on the envelope that can be used to vent helium should the helium
pressure exceed its maximum safe limit. The valve can be opened manually or automatically.

Air Scoops: The air scoops direct exhaust air from the propellers into the ballonets. When the
engines are not running, electric fans move air into the ballonets.
Reference: https://www.aero.iitb.ac.in/~ltasys/airship2.html

…..

Control surfaces and various components of An Airship.

Part 3: Standard Atmosphere and Fluid Statics

Part 1.
As the real atmospheric conditions vary with time, season, place and many more which can change
performance of aerospace function as they depend on these atmospheric conditions. So we need
non changing such ideal values, therefore a Hypothetical model that helps in estimating the
atmospheric conditions. The International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) is a static atmospheric model
of how the pressure, temperature, density, and viscosity of the Earth's atmosphere change over a
wide range of altitudes or elevations.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Atmosphere

& Ae152 course Slides by Prof. A. M. Pradeep

 Comparison of a graph of International Standard Atmosphere temperature and pressure and approximate altitudes of
various objects and successful stratospheric jumps.

Hydrostatic equation (force balance on a fluid element at rest):

ρ = density, g = acceleration due to gravity, hG = geometric (tapeline) altitude

It is assumed that the atmosphere is divided into standard layers that either have constant
temp., or a constant temperature gradient (change in temperature with altitude).
Isothermal layer: Here, T = const, where T is the temperature at the base of the layer.

Eq.s (1) and (2) tell us how pressure and density change with altitude in a constant
temperature layer.

Gradient layer: We can start with the general equation eq(*) and replace T with the expression that
includes the constant gradient:

Eq.s (3) and (4) tell us how the pressure and density changes with altitude in a layer of
atmosphere with a constant temperature gradient.
Reference: Ae152 course Slides by Prof. A. M. Pradeep
Part 2. Fluid Statics:
Volume, V = 5000 m3.

Mass of helium :

Buoyant force is equal to the volume of object times density of the medium.

The buoyant force is 60025 N and additionally lift has also been calculated considering the mass of
empty ballon to be zero. The lift is 50020.84 N.

Part 3. Altitude Effects:

For calculating the new Buoyant, will need new Air density at 3000m, changed volume. For new air
density value ISA table can be directly approached. For New Volume, as the mass will be constant in
the ballon so from m= density*volume in earlier case is equated with the new density*new volume.
This new density is obtained from the equation of gradient layer having lapse rate,a = -6.5*10^(-3).
As troposphere region is upto 11 km and calculations are done for 3 km.

one very important assumption is made that at sea level condition the density of helium is taken one
sixth of air density. Because, that makes a difference in the pressure inside the Airship and
atmosphere, and this pressure difference is crucial for generating lift.
 Therefore, the Buoyant force at 3000 m is approximately 43417.18 N & the changed Volume,
V’ = 4907.8 m2.
Part 4: Ground Handling
 Part 5: Materials
Envelope:

The most important material properties of the Envelope material of an outdoor airship are:

High strength: the high stresses and strains value should be there. And tear strength should also be
of good value.

High strength to weight ratio to minimise the weight of the envelope.

Environmental resistance: resistance to temperature, humidity and ultraviolet light. On these factors
the life of the material depends sometimes not immediately but in a long period of time.

High tear strength (maximum force at which tearing of the material starts.)

Low permeability to minimise the loss of filled gas. Loss of gas causes low lift and hence various
other factors start affecting later on. Such as if the airship is designed for a specific height an dif it
losses lift at the time then it will fall into the region it was not designed for for example, Say after
loosing lift it falls into region where temperature is affecting its material.

Other important factors:

Joining techniques that produce strong joints and not fall into creep rupture.( the stress at which test
piece made from a material fractures when held for a specified time tR at a specified temperature.)

Low creep so that the envelope shape is maintained.

Reference: ”Airship Technology” edited by Gabriel A. Khoury & J. David | section: Materials

Reference: https://shorturl.at/hrP46

Here is the example of an experiment done to check strengths of Envelope material.

Most common failures of the fabrics are caused by tear propagation, which generally begins from a
flaw or a tiny crack. For an airship, a crack may lead to critical fracture of its envelope and even
collapse of the whole airship. To avoid the accident, it is crucial to investigate tear properties of
airship envelopes.

Material used in this experiment is a Laminated plain weave fabric including three layers (see in the
image).

First layer, The fiber owns a high strength, high modulus, light resistance, & resistance to heat aging.
Second layer, The gas retention layer is made from ethylene vinyl to prevent gas leakage. Third layer,
is made from alcohol polymer that can protect the other layers from radiations.

Finally, the observation was that the tear strength of this fabric decreases as initial crack length
increases. For instance, when the initial crack length is 31.75 mm, the tear strength is only 44.52% of
the tensile strength.

So it can be said that this factor is also important, the material with less decrement in tear strength
with increased crack length will be a good material.
 Reference: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1558925019879295

Laminate Materials example: For the US Navy YEZ 2A design which has a nominal envelope volume
of 70,800 m3 (2.5 million ft3), a single ply Dacron, laminated with Mylar and Tedlar using Hytrel as the
bonding agent, was developed which gave a uniaxial strength of 5.25KN/50mm (600lbs/in) at a
weight of 440 g/m2 (13 oz per sq. yd). Derivatives of this fabric are under development which have
the potential to achieve a uniaxial strength of 14kN/50mm (1600 Ib./in) at approximately 1 kg/m2
Reference: ”Airship Technology” edited by Gabriel A. Khoury & J. David | section: Materials

Ballonet materials :

The materials of ballonet require unusal combination of properties. Its function is to continuously
inflate and deflate, During the flight manoeuvres it get “ballonet slosh”, which induces loads on the
material. As there is not pressure difference between ballonet air and gas in the airship, there is no
pressure induced membrane stress on the material.

Basically these materials need to be able to resist continual flexing and abrasion. and no change in
the permeability.
Reference: ”Airship Technology” edited by Gabriel A. Khoury & J. David | section: Materials

Continual flexing: Continuous and repeated flexing of material with undergoing fatigue or failure.

Abrasion: Abrasion refers to the process of wearing away or damaging a material's surface through
friction, rubbing, or scraping.
Reference: definitions of Continual flexing and Abrasion are from Chatgpt