Homework 3 Exploration Problem Mars Inflatable Habitat Introduction? One aspec
ID: 297150 • Letter: H
Question
Homework 3 Exploration Problem Mars Inflatable Habitat Introduction? One aspect of colonizing Mars is creating suitable habitats for human living. Several approaches have been proposed, including using natural or mined caves, burying hard shelters, or constructing shelters on the surface. Some design considerations include:
? Galactic cosmic radiation and solar flare proton emissions pose long term radiation exposure problems, however approximately 3m of Mars dirt is sufficient shielding.
? The Mars atmosphere is essentially a vacuum. Although humans appear to be able to survive under reduced atmospheric conditions, assume for this exploration that the atmospheric pressure will be the same as on Earth. Any structure will have to withstand the pressure differential.
? An optimal design would be preconfigured in a collapsed form on Earth, transported to the Mars surface, and either selfassemble, be robotically assembled, or require minimal human assembly. The structure will need to be as light as possible per unit volume of inhabitable area, have a long lifetime, have airlocks, and meet structural requirements. An interested design proposal is described in, the following paper, which is in BlackBoard: Habitat Architecture Concept Definition for “Integrated Strategies for the Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars” (A NASAfunded Study): Interim Status Report
Assignment ?Study the above paper. Note that the spaceframe approach provides a clear interior space with no vertical supports. However, it seems to preclude the ability to fold the support structure into a collapsed form that could be unfolded by inflating the structure. Also, having a clear interior space, while nice, is not necessary. I would like you to investigate an alternative framing scheme where the structure is made of vertical supports and horizontal trusses, retaining the exterior skin design. I believe this structure could be designed to selfassemble upon inflation. In this assignment we will examine the material properties needed for the interior vertical support posts.
Assume that the interior framing consists of lightweight horizontal trusses supported by vertical posts 3m tall. Assume that the posts are positioned every 5m in a square grid. Assume that the outer skin and trussing masses are negligible. Assume that the outer skin and trussing distribute the loads due to air pressure differential evenly to the vertical posts. Assume that the post material is the strongest carbon fiber type. Assume a safety factor of 4.
A. What is the load on the vertical posts?
B. What is the mass of each post?
Repeat the above questions (C, D) assuming that 3m of Mars regolith (dirt) is piled on top of the structure, with the same assumptions.
E. Would you design the posts to be solid rods or hollow tubes?
Explanation / Answer
Galactic cosmic radiation and solar flare proton emissions pose long term radiation exposure problems, however approximately 3m of Mars dirt is sufficient shielding. The Mars atmosphere is essentially a vacuum. Although humans appear to be able to survive under reduced atmospheric conditions, assume for this exploration that the atmospheric pressure will be the same as on Earth. Any structure will have to withstand the pressure differential. An optimal design would be pre configured in a collapsed form on Earth, transported to the Mars surface, and either self assemble, be robotically assembled, or require minimal human assembly. The structure will need to be as light as possible per unit volume of inhabitable area, have a long lifetime, have airlocks, and meet structural requirements. An interested design proposal is described in, the following paper, which is in BlackBoard: Habitat Architecture Concept Definition for “Integrated Strategies for the Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars” (A NASA funded Study)
=> the load on the verticle post will be such that the it should enable to minimize the load and attain the initial stage of the equllibrium. this means that the today the planet is in the such stage of the developement where the load on the verticle and the horizontal level cannot withstand to a very high values but with the technology it will be possible to enhance and attain the load capitcity and the design of the skin for this.
=> the mass of the above post is very high as compared to the contrast on the initial level of the authority on the other hand if we see that we placed it with the less mass then it will be sustain to maintain that load with the gradually increases the stress and the strain in that post.
=> it would be a hollow because to the fact that when the object is solid this means it have the full of mass and thus when there is a mass it will be a resident for the stress concerntrations and there will be more stress formation which will lead to crack formations and propogate to damage and fail the whole system. now if we take the case of the hollow then it will have no mass in the center and therefore no stress concerntrations will be take place. due to which we can say that it will withstand the stress concerntrations. thus it will be safe for this case.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.