Dynamic deflation assessment of an air inflated membrane structure

• Deflation behavior of air inflated arch frame is studied by both simulation and test.
• Analytical parameters and modeling techniques are concluded.
• Test on a full scale air inflated arch frame agrees with dynamic simulation results.
• General guidelines for design and deflation simulation are proposed.
• Measures to ensure emergency evacuation of air inflated structure are utilized.

As a critical safety performance index, the emergency evacuation capacity of air inflated membrane structures subjected to accidental deflation deserves in-depth study. Although conventional static analysis can be applied to predict its potential collapsed shapes, it cannot provide details of collapse behavior and the internal air state variation. Dynamic analysis is recommended. The focus of this paper is to apply the Control Volume method to deflation simulation of a large-scale air inflated arch frame, which is designed for a temporary pavilion, and to validate numerical analysis results by full-scale testing. Through a series of preliminary studies on air inflated single arches, practical analytical parameters and solutions are concluded regarding proper numerical modeling, pre-stressing, and precision controlling. A full-scale frame is then modeled and simulated. Results appear to agree with experimental tests of the corresponding real-life structure with minor differences in collapse behavior and deflation duration time. Several general guidelines for design and deflation simulation analysis are proposed as a result of research. Feasible measures to ensure emergency evacuation capacity of the air inflated arch frame are adopted in the design based on results of this dynamic assessment.