Prediction on Deflection of Inflated Beam
摘要
The bending stiffness of the inflated beam is considered as a constant before wrinkles appear, and it decreases obviously as wrinkles propagate. The formula of the bending stiffness is obtained based on the membrane theory in this paper. Furthermore, the definition of dimensionless bending stiffness factor is presented; the relationship of bending stiffness factor and wrinkling factor is derived; the bending stiffness factor is simplified as different linear functions with wrinkling factor, and the simplified model of bending stiffness of inflated beam under bending is also obtained. The bending stiffness including expression of wrinkling factor is substituted into the deflection differential equation, and then the slope and deflection equation of the inflated beam is deduced by integrating the deflection differential equation. Finally, the load-deflection curve is obtained, which is compared with the experimental data in a previous paper. It has a good agreement with each other.