Structural Analysis and Design of a Large Inflatable Hangar for Aircrafts

Buildair S.A. has designed, manufactured and built an inflatable hangar (called hangar H75) for the aeronautical industry at Jeddah Airport, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. H75 is the largest air-cell inflated structure ever built in the world, finally erected in July 2019. The structural analysis and design of the main body of the hangar has involved complex structural concepts due to the specificity of the structural elements employed, like membranes and straps that lead to a highly nonlinear mechanical problem, or the treatment of wind over the structure without a defined standard for inflatable structures. In this article, the structural concept and specificities of the structure are presented, as well as the design procedure for H75 based on numerical analysis, to fulfil the design requirements in terms of stress and deformation of the main body.

Automated summary

Buildair S.A. has designed, manufactured, and built an inflatable hangar, known as hangar H75, for the aeronautical industry at Jeddah Airport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. H75 is the world's largest air-cell inflated structure, and it was erected in July 2019. The design of the hangar involved complex structural concepts and addressing issues such as wind load without defined standards for inflatable structures. This article presents the structural concept, specificities, and the design procedure for H75 based on numerical analysis to meet the stress and deformation requirements of the main body.