Using nonlinear FE modeling to understand the effect of boundary conditions on precise surfaces of inflatable structures

Developing ultra-lightweight, deployable, and adaptive systems has become a trend in aerospace and aeronautics over the last two decades. The incorporation of inflatable structures can produce significant advantages in stowed volume to mechanical effectiveness and overall weight for many aerospace systems. Most inflatable systems are designed to precisely control internal or external surfaces, or both, to achieve a desired response or structure. The dynamics and structure of inflatable systems is directly related to the configuration of interfacing boundaries. Designing new inflatable systems will be predicated on developing verified models of structures that comprise inflatable systems. The current efforts are an important foundation for future designs. This paper presents nonlinear finite element (FE) simulations performed to evaluate the effect of various boundary conditions on the geometric precision of a surface representing typical internal/external surfaces commonly incorporated into inflatable structures.