Coated and Laminated Textiles for Aerostats and Airships: Material Challenges and Technology

This book covers material challenges and technology innovation in coated and laminated textiles for aerostats and airships. Aerostats/airships are lighter-than-air (LTA) aircraft which are generally used in defence applications and face many harsh environmental conditions. For sustaining such conditions, there are special requirements for the material to be used in aerostats/airships which generally include a multi-layered coated/laminated textile using a textile fabric in base layer and different polymers for coating/lamination. Therefore, this book covers typical materials developed by different countries, challenges for developing material for aerostat/airship envelope and the future scope. Features: Exclusive title on materials used for LTA envelopes. Discusses material challenges such as selection of suitable fibre, polymer, additive, coating/lamination techniques, joint type and sealing techniques. Includes typical materials developed by different companies and researchers worldwide. Clearly explains technical concepts using figures, schemes and tabulated data. Includes case studies on material developed for aerostats/airships by different countries including NASA, Lockheed Martin, JAXA, ADRDE and DRDO. This book is aimed at graduate students, researchers and professionals in textiles engineering and aerospace engineering.