Results of buckling and nonlinear analyses of the Space Shuttle External Tank super-lightweight liquid-oxygen (LO2) tank are presented. Modeling details and results are presented for two prelaunch loading conditions and for two full-scale structural tests that were conducted on the original External Tank. These results illustrate three distinctly different types of nonlinear response for thin-walled shells subjected to combined mechanical and thermal loads. These nonlinear response phenomena consist of bifurcation-type buckling, short-wavelength nonlinear bending, and nonlinear collapse associated with a limit point. For each case, the results show that accurate predictions of nonlinear behavior generally require a large-scale, high-fidelity finite element model. Results are also presented that show that a fluid-filled launch-vehicle shell can be highly sensitive to initial geometric imperfections. In addition, results presented for two full-scale structural tests of the original standard-weight External Tank suggest that the finite element modeling approach used in the present study is sufficient for representing the nonlinear behavior of the super-lightweight LO2 tank.
Nonlinear analysis of the space shuttle super-lightweight external fuel tank
Nichtlineare Analyse eines besonders leichten Außentanks der Raumfähre
1996
24 Seiten, 23 Bilder, 2 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Nonlinear Analysis of the Space Shuttle Super-Lightweight External Fuel Tank
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1996
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