Large Deflections of an Inflated Cylindrical Tent

This report analyzes the large deformations of a cylindrical, inflated, single-wall tent due to wind pressure and is based on the membrane theory for large deflections but small strains. The tent cross section is a sector of a circle in the undeformed position, and the wind is blowing on it in the broadside direction. The tent motion is taken as plane, and it is assumed that the wind pressure distribution is known in the deformed state. The problem is solved by numerical analysis and results are presented for the stress, deformed shape, aerodynamic resultants, and anchor forces. The problem is of theoretical interest because the linear membrane theory does not have a unique solution for it, and also because it illustrates that the method of small deformations superposed on large is of little help when the large deformation is of inextensional type.