This paper was produced for the 2019 NAFEMS World Congress in Quebec Canada

Resource Abstract

This paper describes research activities that were undertaken for the design of an airship using hydrogen as lifting gas. Even if the final airship should be able to transport a 40 tons container, the first phase of the project was dedicated to the design and sizing of a smaller demonstrator of about 16m long that will show all the technical difficulties that will be encountered on the final structure of larger size. The paper explains the design concepts and illustrates how finite elements and structural optimization were used to support the sizing of the airship structural components.