Conceptual Design of Stratospheric Airships Focusing on Energy Balance

Abstract

Stratospheric airships can perform long-duration, wide-area observation missions above a specific location. The conceptual design of streamlined stratospheric airships is researched in this paper. Multidisciplinary analysis models for stratospheric airships are established, including geometry, aerodynamics, propulsion, and renewable power systems. A conceptual design method focusing on the energy balance for stratospheric airships is proposed, taking minimum total mass as the objective function. A conceptual design of a stratospheric airship for area observation was achieved, and the feasibility of the design results was verified. In addition, the influence of the wind resistance strategy on the conceptual design was analyzed, and simulation results showed that, by adjusting power consumption during day and night with a maneuverable wind resistance strategy, the total mass and renewable power system mass of the stratospheric airship can be greatly reduced.