Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology,

Vasad

Project Presentation
Dept: Aeronautical Engg.

7 th sem
By

Akash Malaviya
Ajay Chaudhari
Hitesh Hadiya
Ashok Tank

130410101001
130410101005
130410101008
130410101055

Guided by
Capt. Umang N. Jani

Contents
Project Definition & Abstract
Introduction
-Types
-The Golden Age
-World War
-Modern Use

pre-Design results

Design, Analysis and Fabrication of RC

Airship and future implementations
A model of remote controlled Airship. A lifting body gaining lift mainly by the
buoyancy force using Helium gas. The whole processes of designing starting from conceptual
design to the CAD model and then fabrication of the same. It includes the fundamental design
consideration of Lighter Than Air (LTA) vehicle. Calculation regarding aerodynamic forces
acting over it and flow analysis over the main envelope body using CFD fluent validated as
per FAA rules for airships. Requirements of propulsion system and stabilizers to have
maximum power and a stabilized flight. Control system consisting of servo motors, actuators
pressure controller and transmitting and receiving circuit. Further talk about future
implementation in area of lighter than air vehicle using composite honeycomb structure in
rigid cargo airship, FBWSS (Fly-by-Wireless) system, Cargo compartment in rigid envelope,
high lifting capacity and its uses in civil and military.

Introduction
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered
and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms. Unlike
aerodynamic aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, which produce lift by moving a wing
through the air, aerostatic aircraft stay aloft by having a large "envelope" filled with a gas which is less
dense than the surrounding atmosphere.
Airships were the first aircraft to enable controlled, powered flight, and were widely used
before the 1940s, but their use decreased over time as their capabilities were surpassed by those of
airplanes. Their decline continued with a series of high-profile accidents, including the 1937 burning of
the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg near Lakehurst, New Jersey, and the destruction of the USS Akron.
Airships are still used today in certain niche applications, such as advertising, freight transportation,
tourism, camera platforms for sporting events, aerial observation and interdiction platforms, where the
ability to hover in one place for an extended period outweighs the need for speed and manoeuvrability.

Types
Non-rigid airships (blimps) use a pressure
level in excess of the surrounding air pressure
to retain their shape during flight. The nonrigid airship's gas envelope has no
compartments. At sea level, the ballonets
(internal flexible cells) are filled with air. As
altitude is increased, the lifting gas expands
and air from the ballonets is expelled through
air valves to maintain the same hull shape. To
return to sea level, the process is reversed.
Air is forced back into the ballonets by both
scooping air from the engine exhaust and
using auxiliary blowers.

Semi-rigid airships, like blimps, require

internal pressure to maintain their shape, but
have extended, usually articulated keel frames
running along the bottom of the envelope to
distribute suspension loads into the envelope
and allow lower envelope pressures.
Rigid airships (Zeppelin is almost
synonymous with this type) have rigid frames
containing multiple, non-pressurized gas cells
or balloons to provide lift. Rigid airships do not
depend on internal pressure to maintain their
shape and can be made to virtually any size.

Metal-clad airships were of two kinds:

rigid and non-rigid. Each kind used a thin
gastight metal envelope, rather than the
usual rubber-coated fabric envelope. Only
four metal-clad ships are known to have
been built, and only two actually flew.

Thermal airships use a heated lifting

gas, usually air, in a fashion similar to hot
air balloons.

The Golden Age

The "Golden Age of Airships" began in July 1900 with the launch of the
Luftschiff Zeppelin LZ1. This led to the most successful airships of all time: The
Zeppelins. These were named after Count von Zeppelin who began experimenting
with rigid airship designs in the 1890s leading to the badly flawed LZ1 (1900) and
the more successful LZ2 (1906). At the beginning of World War I the Zeppelin
airships had a framework composed of triangular lattice girders, covered with
fabric and containing separate gas cells. Multi-plane, later cruciform, tail fins were
used for control and stability, and two engine/crew cars hung beneath the hull
driving propellers attached to the sides of the frame by means of long drive shafts.
Additionally, there was a passenger compartment (later a bomb bay) located
halfway between the two cars.

World Wars
The prospect of airships as bombers had been recognised in
Europe well before the airships were up to the task. H. G. Wells' The War
in the Air (1908) described the obliteration of entire fleets and cities by
airship attack. On 5 March 1912, Italian forces became the first to use
dirigibles for a military purpose during reconnaissance west of Tripoli
behind Turkish lines. It was World War I, however, that marked the
airship's real debut as a weapon.

Modern Use
Although airships are no longer used for passenger transport, they are
still used for other purposes such as advertising, sightseeing,
surveillance and research.
In the 1980s, Per Lindstrand and his team introduced the GA-42 airship,
the first airship to use fly-by-wire flight control which considerably
reduced the pilot's workload.
In the spring of 2004, Lindstrand Technologies supplied the world's first
fully functional unmanned airship to the Ministry of Defense in Spain.

Designed Geometry

Three Views

GNVR shape
As studied by Prof. GNV Rao of IIT-Bombay in 2002, the benefit
of insertion of a constant diameter insert in the GNVR shape (which
results in an increase of L/D from 3.0 to 4.5) was investigated.
The study revealed that an airship hull with a larger L/D than
the generally accepted value of about 3.0 for minimum drag coefficient
can result in lesser drag force for the same volume and speed at L/D
more than 3.0.

Equations for design

Ellipse : x2/(1.25d)2 + y2/(0.5d)2 = 1
Circle : x2 + (y + 3.5d)2 = 16d2
Parabola : y2 = 0.1373d (1.8d - x)

-750

130

296.4766

-670

134.8184

210

290.7948

-590

185.2134

290

282.4147

-510

219.9636

370

271.3077

-430

245.7967

450

257.435

-350

265.33

530

240.7477

-270

279.8857

610

221.185

-190

290.2137

690

198.6735

-110

296.7558

770

173.1256

-30

299.7599

850

144.4376

50

299.4791

930

112.4873

1010

75.93813

1080

Co-ordinates of envelope

All dimensions are in mm.

Thank you!