Test Study and Numerical Simulation of Deflation Process of an Air-Supported Membrane Structure

Abstract

Assessment of the deflation behavior and duration of an air-supported membrane structure is of great importance for making the plan of safety evacuation in the emergence situations but has received few studies. To gain insight into the deflation behavior and duration, field deflation tests of a real air-supported structure were performed, whereby the relationship between the inner air pressure and the duration was determined. Based on the nonlinear finite element (FE) method and the Nozzle theory defining the relationship between air loss and the dimensions of entrances, holes and seams, a simple numerical method is proposed to simulate the deflation process and predict the deflation duration. Factors affecting deflation duration like leakage area and uniform load on membrane surface are given detailed analyses. Through the comparison between the test data and the simulation results, the equivalent leakage area and the uniformly distributed load of the membrane surface are determined to facilitate the assessment of the deflation behavior and duration of the real structure. The method can efficiently analyze the deflation process and predict the deflation duration easily, and the present study is valuable in making plans for dealing with occupants' emergency evacuation and controlled deflations.