Lindstrand Air Cell Applications for Military Use · Lindstrand Air Cell Applications for Military...

Lindstrand Technologies Ltd, Maesbury Road, Oswestry, SY10 8GA, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1691 671888 Fax: +44 1691 679991 www.lindstrandtech.com

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Lindstrand Air Cell Applications for

Military Use



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Introduction - Company History

Lighter-than-Air Supplier – Lindstrand Technologies Ltd

Lindstrand Technologies Ltd (LTL) is based in Shropshire, England. The Lindstrand team has been aeronautical fabric engineers on the same site for over 30 years. With designs certified in 48 countries and a perfect safety record LTL is the world’s most versatile manufacturer of aerostats, airships and hi-tech air cell structures.

LTL Development

The roots of LTL go back to 1978. More than thirty years later the LTL team have designed, manufactured and type-certified the following lighter-than-air vehicles:-

Over 5,000 hot air balloons, currently operated in 48 countries

Over 100 thermal airships Over 110 gas balloons, helium and hydrogen capable

The largest ever hot air balloon, 73,600m3

The largest ever manned super-pressure balloon, 36,086m3

The largest ever thermal airship, 8,500m3

The GA-42 helium airship, 26m long, 1,190m3. This was the world’s first certified civil aircraft with fly-by-wire control with no mechanical back-ups Largest manufacturer of manned tethered aerostats

• Balloon Development

The world’s first type certified pressurized thermal airship, first use of silicone impregnated balloon fabrics, first use of synthetic envelope material approved for hydrogen gas, first practical solar balloon (balloon flight with payload heated only by the sun). First sustained manned flight in the Jetstream. First balloon capsule with active pressurization.

• Parachutes

In 2002 LTL manufactured the parachute for the Beagle 2 Marslander in specifically constructed clean room facilities. Beagle 2 was launched in June 2003 on a Russian Soyuz rocket and landed six months later on the Planet Mars.

• CAA, FAA and JAA Design

LTL has the highest available approval rating from the British CAA (DA1/9400/92), the US FAA (336CE) and the EASA Part 21(UK .21.G.2089) for the design and manufacture of lighter-than-air vehicles.

LTL has a proven track record in project management, ranging from civil type certification of airships (GA-42) to long distance manned balloon programmes.

• In-house Design

LTL has a policy of in-house design and manufacture. Gas balloon manufacture is dominated by tethered aerostats, which are manufactured by overlap welding of continuous longitudinal gores. This process allows



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for the welding machine to run on the rail track while the balloon material is almost stationary and the welding process is conducted by a hot air nozzle blowing into the two jointing surfaces. The largest aerostat manufactured on existing machinery is a 36,086m3 manned super-pressure balloon. A 60,000m3 balloon could be built on existing machine tools and existing premises.

• Machinery Development

Much of the machinery used in LTL’s aerostat manufacture is unique to LTL and has been largely developed in-house as LTL has comprehensive machine shop facilities and a full electronic/electrical workshop. LTL has designed, developed and built a number of impulse welding machines and long arm sewing machines.

• Facilities

Workspace: Workshop area – 4,366m3 / Offices – 930m3

Custom Software and Design Equipment

In-house developed software for finite element analysis.

Simulation programmes for in-house thermal analysis package for determination of aerostat equilibrium for various balloon fabrics and environment aspects C

FD analysis to access convective exchanges, thermal characteristics In-house aerostat vertical trajectory modelling facility In-house aerostat based flight simulator

Manufacturing Equipment:

Three off hot air welding machines

Three off 8 inch bar impulse welding machines

Two off 20 kW FIAB RF welding machines

Two off 3 kW Raydyne RF welding machine

One off self-propelled hot wedge welding machines

Automated X-Y software driven cutting tables

Blackman & White Genesis 3m wide x 21m long vacuum type cutting table

One 21 metre vacuum bed, fully automated, programmable GERBER cutting table with a cutting speed of 64 m/ min.

Fabric inspection machine – CTI fabric inspection machine with computer stored fabric fault logic with nesting; colour recognition for automated colour matching

R&D/QA 1 tonne tensile testing machine (with environment chamber 183K to 573K)

5 tonne tensile testing machine (Instron)

Tear testing machine (type-Elmendorf)



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Accelerated weathering machine (Q-panel)

NDT thickness measuring device (eddy current)

Spectro-photometer (300nm-740nm)

Emissometer Hyperbaric test chamber (1m x 1.5m, RF transparent and portable, max altitude 170,000ft (51,800m), min temperature minus 900C)

Creep measuring device (own manufacture)

Fabric flex testing machine

Precision fabric scales

Production helium porosity tester (mass spectrometer based, detection area 1m x 0.08m – cycle time 14 seconds.

Air Cell Technology

Until recently architectural fabric engineering has been mainly limited to single skin structures, either tensioned between hard structures (London Dome, Denver Airport and various Pavilions) or Super Pressure Buildings which maintain their shape by pumping air into the structure (i.e. tennis balls).

There have been a number of small self-supported Air Cell Buildings, used as temporary shelters etc, but these have not had a significant impact on the market.

Lindstrand Technologies Limited pioneered Air Cell technology with the Stockholm Millennium Arches in the latter half of 1999. This was a unique building 100m long, erected in front of the Royal Palace in Stockholm and it was the main theme for the Millennium night celebrations.

An Air Cell Building is self-supporting and self-erectable using an air fan only, and is a fabric only construction with no hardware. That, in turn, means that the building will pack up into a very small volume for ease of handling and transportation.

The fans used in the Air Cell Building normally operate on full power during initial installation but once the building is fully installed, the fan will switch to intermittent mode governed by a pressure switch inside the air cell.

Another advantage is that the building is constructed entirely off site and is delivered and installed usually in less than a day.

The Lindstrand fabric engineering is carried out on internally developed CAD programme with fabric cut on a 21 meter automated cutting table. This means almost any geometry is possible and can be produced with great accuracy and in the minimum amount of time.

The only wear factors are UV and weather. An inflatable building used indoors, such as at Magna, will have an almost indefinite life. A building in continuous outdoor exposure should survive 10 years in the Tropics and 20 year in Mid-European conditions.



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There are about 20 standard colours but customized colours can be produced on request. Post-assembly artwork can either be painted on or applied self-adhesive film.

Wind tolerance is designed into the project from the start. A high wind tolerance requirement results in stronger materials having to be used, which in turn raises cost. Therefore we do not design for more wind tolerance than required. In many ways, wind tolerance is more a factor of how the building is anchored to the ground than the tolerance of the building itself. The highest wind tolerance that the Lindstrand design team has worked to is 110 knots.

There are almost no limitations for design geometry. The two important factors are - that the building must have a sufficient air gap to create the required rigidity and large flat horizontal areas are to be avoided



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Modular Construction of LTL air cell buildings

Inflatable air cell structures are perfect storage and cover facilities: double skin design provides natural insulation and simplifies temperature control. Additionally, an optional Mylar coating can be used on the outer skin to provide a highly reflective coating, which reduces increases in temperature when used in sunny tropic or desert climates.



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Inflatable Decontamination Unit

Lindstrand Technologies Ltd designed and built an inflatable decontamination dome, which was fitted with an extra seal to ensure that unwanted agents do not leak out.

The inside atmosphere of the dome was kept at 200 Pa underpressure, and the dome was large enough to accommodate a 20 tonne digger, and allowed full articulation of its digging arm.

The building's roof had extra reinforcement, which enabled the digger to lift the building (from the inside) and move it from side to side.

Inflatable Cold Storage Units

Lindstrand Technologies Ltd was sub-contracted to build storage facilities used to provide extra capacity for cold storage of perishable items.

These units can be custom built to whatever size is required and, as they are classed as temporary structures, these buildings do not need planning permission and as such are particularly applicable to seasonal food industries.

The inflatable cold storage units can be equipped with optional internal partitions creating private compartments or rooms.



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Field Hospitals



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Mobile Command Centers



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Military Aircraft Hangars

Lindstrand Air Cell Applications for Military Use · Lindstrand Air Cell Applications for Military...

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