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Virginia Tech

Analysis of Pressurized Arch-Shells

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

A pressurized arch-shell structural component made of flexible material is considered. The component is inflated with high internal pressure. The behavior of similar types of structures, such as a pair of leaning pressurized arches and pressurized arch-supported membrane shelters, has been investigated in the past. More recently, several types of pressurized structures have been incorporated as part of the framework for a variety of structural systems. Particularly, the U.S. Army has been investigating the use of large lightweight and transportable pressurized arch-shell structures to be used as maintenance shelters for vehicles, helicopters, and airplanes. The formulated equations using thin shell theory are applied to a pressurized arch-shell component. A numerical investigation based on the Rayleigh-Ritz method is utilized to determine the behavior of arch-shells under various types of loading. The types of loading include a uniformly distributed vertical load representing snow, a wind load, and a horizontal side load distributed along the arc length. Deflections, stress resultants, and moments at various locations are computed for two types of shapes: circular and non-circular arch-shells.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Civil Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Civil Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
1998

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Goh, Julian Kok Seng
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Plaut, Raymond H.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Kapania, Rakesh K.
  • Holzer, Siegfried M.

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-110298-213557
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/35576

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Goh, Julian Kok Seng. Analysis of Pressurized Arch-Shells. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/35576