A study of canopy shapes and stresses for parachutes in steady descent

Author / Creator

Topping, A. D., author

Available as

Online

Summary

Analytical solutions for the fully inflated shapes of the circular canopies of flat, extended skirt, conical, personnel guide surface, and conical ring slot parachutes in steady descent are given. ...

Analytical solutions for the fully inflated shapes of the circular canopies of flat, extended skirt, conical, personnel guide surface, and conical ring slot parachutes in steady descent are given. The solution for the flat canopy uses as a first approximation the Taylor curve, and after taking into account the fullness of the gore, yields a shape having a rounded apex rather than the flat top characteristic of the Taylor curve. The solution for the flat canopy is found to be adaptable to all the other canopies except the conical, even though both the conical ring slot and the personnel guide surface canopies are conical. An entirely new solution is developed for the conical canopy by obtaining a first approximation that neglects gore fullness and then altering this by taking fullness into account.

Show More