EXTERNAL PROJECTS

Structural Design Of Mooring Mast For Remotely Controlled Airship

This project was done by Mr. Sagar Kale, who did his engineering from Nagpur, in Mechanical Department.

This paper presents the structural details of a non-guyed telescopic mast for a remotely controlled airship, which has been designed, fabricated and flight tested as a part of the ongoing Program on Airship Design and Development (PADD) at IIT Bombay. The mast can accommodate non-rigid airships of length ranging from 3 to 6m, and consists of three telescopic modules made of standard aluminum sections, mounted on a tripod base with castor wheels. The various modules and components of mast were designed to enable quick assembly and transportation in a box which can be stowed below a railway sleeper berth. The mast's airship mounting unit incorporates a drag measuring device and a alerting system when the air loads exceed safe limits.  The details of various sub-assemblies of mast and the reasoning behind the selection of their structural configuration are also presented.