Fabrication and Testing of Pressurized Rib Tents

Abstract : The use of pressure stabilized structural elements in tentage support structures has been under investigation for several years. The work reported here culminates the exploratory development phase of this investigation with a description of the fabrication and simulated snow load testing of several prototype concepts. In addition, some preliminary study of the fabrication of pressure stabilized structural elements is reported, including weaving and air retention techniques. The test results clearly demonstrate that building stable tent support frames using pressure stabilized structural elements is possible and that the design of such a tent to meet the operational snow load requirements is also possible. With regard to fabrication of the structural elements, further work is needed on the weaving to provide additional strength so that higher inflation pressures can be used and on providing additional air retention.