Development of Air-inflated Lifting Equipment

Abstract

The research aimed to develop air-inflated equipment for lifting catamaran components during construction. The main structural parts of a newly developed catamaran are two hulls and three closed boxes. The three boxes connect the hulls and hold the deck. Different construction procedures were analysed to connect the main structural parts. One possibility is to float the hulls and the three boxes one by one on the water, lift the boxes to the required position with inflated tubes or pillows and connect the parts. Air-inflated tubes with various geometry and internal pressure have been analysed with the help of the Dynamic Relaxation Method. The deformed shape of the floating tubes, the membrane stresses, and the lifting forces were determined.

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