Author(s)

YuFan Xie

Affiliation(s)

AVIC Special Vehicle Research Institute, Jingmen 448001, Hubei, China.

Corresponding Author

YuFan Xie

ABSTRACT

Addressing the engineering need for precise estimation of helium volume within the envelope of tethered aerostats during station-keeping, and to overcome the increased errors of traditional methods in complex environments, a high-precision and practical engineering estimation method is proposed through the construction of a multi-factor coupling model. Firstly, for single influencing factors, two helium volume estimation methods are presented: one based on ground temperature variations and another on atmospheric parameter changes. Further, considering multiple influencing factors during aerial tethering, a multi-factor coupling computational model is developed. This involves simplifying the force model of the tethered aerostat and establishing force balance equations to correlate helium volume with measurable parameters such as wind speed and temperature. Additionally, a wind speed-tension fitting relationship is proposed to correct wind disturbance errors. Validation against field test data demonstrates that the estimation error of this helium volume method is within 5%. The proposed engineering estimation method provides reliable technical support for managing envelope helium volume during the long-term station-keeping of tethered aerostats, exhibiting significant practical application value.

KEYWORDS

Helium volume; Multi-factor coupling; Engineering estimation; Experimental verification

CITE THIS PAPER

YuFan Xie. Engineering estimation method for helium volume in tethered aerostats. World Journal of Engineering Research. 2025, 3(3): 9-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/wjer3033.

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