Design and mechanical performance analysis of flexible support substrates for solar arrays on stratospheric airships

As a next-generation high-altitude platform, stratospheric airships require long-endurance flight capabilities supported by highly efficient and reliable solar arrays. To overcome the challenges of uneven illumination and structural instability in conventional curved surface deployment designs, this study introduces an innovative flexible support substrate system. The proposed solution utilizes a carbon fibre-reinforced aluminium honeycomb composite structure, integrating 48 modular substrate panels with a flexible tension network. This configuration ensures outstanding deformation adaptability while maintaining high structural rigidity. The inflatable ring-tension network composite support system exhibits robust structural integrity even under extreme conditions (-60°C) and supports repeated assembly and disassembly. Furthermore, the optimized X-shaped hollow-core substrate design achieves a 64.4% reduction in weight while significantly enhancing energy conversion efficiency. This research presents a lightweight, high-power energy solution for stratospheric airships, demonstrating substantial potential for engineering applications.