A review of airship structural research and development

The research and development of diverse types of airships are reviewed in this paper. The early history of non-rigid, semi-rigid, and rigid airships is first introduced. It is followed by a description of a wide variety of unconventional airships with distinct features due to unique shape design, lifting gas, operation mode, or payload capability. The current ongoing airship projects in the world are summarized and the characteristics of hybrid airships and heavy-lift air vehicles are analyzed in greater detail because of the increasing interest in their development. The techniques of modeling, structural analysis, and simulation used during airship development are reviewed. Also, the optimization of airship body shape is briefly discussed. The main emphasis of this review is on the consideration of the structural aspects.