Self-Rigid Re-Stowable Composite Replacement for High Pressure Airbeam-Supported Shelter

Self-deploying fabric structures supported by high-pressure airbeams have significantly reduced logistical requirements compared to metal-frame shelters. They require 75% less packing volume, weigh 66% less, and reduce deployment time by 60%. Airbeam-supported shelters are, however, susceptible to unintentional deflation and degraded integrity from large cuts, tears and punctures. Dedicated inflation systems are required to maintain pressure. Some military operations require fast deployment followed by long-term use, where durability with minimal maintenance and logistical support are essential. At some point advantages of airbeam deployment become outweighed by burden of keeping beams inflated. One suggested solution is to deploy and erect a shelter using air, then rigidize beams to eliminate need for maintaining pressure. This solves one problem but introduces others, including making the task of repacking and moving to a new location more difficult. KaZaK will investigate feasibility of a new light-weight, low maintenance, self-deploying hanger-type shelter that has many advantages of fabric airbeam shelters, including dense packaging and simple erection, but once erected, is rigid. For load-carrying structure, we will modify a novel composite construction used with success by KaZaK for other difficult design problems that required a balance between deployed stiffness and compact coiling for transport.