Initial Development of LTA-HALE Airship

Abstract

This present work describes the development and performance analysis of a High-Altitude-Long-Endurance (HALE) hybrid-airship.  Hybrid-airship design was chosen because it uses both the Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) and Heavier-Than-Air (HTA) concept to produce lift. LTA concept uses less energy than Heavier-Than-Air (HTA) concept, hence more endurance and flight hours in certain condition. This special characteristic of LTA-HALE concept gives extensive opportunities of development in many areas, such as surveillance, scientific, and technological purposes. The airship was designed to reach the target altitude of 60.000 ft. and the target velocity of 10 m/s. Glass fiber frame are used to maintain its shape and also function as its primary structure. Helium weather balloons are used to produce lift for the airship. A thin layer is placed in the frame as the outer layer of the ship, protecting the balloons. As a basis for the primary structure design, gas behavior such as pressure and volume variation in various altitude also studied and presented. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed to the airship model on the target altitude and velocity in order to obtain drag of the model. From this data, the power required for propulsion in cruise condition can be calculated. The produced design then compared with existing airships and aircrafts to determine the effectiveness of the design.