Inflatable spaceships under constant acceleration

[Spacescifi]

 

 

Inflatable spaceships seem quite logical. From designs I have seen, the heaviest stuff is in a shaft down the center.

 

Under constant acceleration of 1g, would a inflatable spaceship still be practical? I think it could work with sufficient bracing and a central shaft for heavier items.

The main utility if inflatable spaceships is lighter materials weight for launch.

 

Thus future spaceships will likely be inflatable.

 

There is even a case for inflatable SSTO's if you could make a material hear resistant enough.

 

 

 

[Nuke]

you could install a fold down flooring system that can be put in place after the ship is inflated. these would brace against the central core and wouldn't press on the "floor" of the habitat. the inflated sections should be able to hold their form under a 1g acceleration with minimal deformation.

Edited August 18, 2019 by Nuke

[farmerben]

Inflatable buildings work on Earth.  So they can certainly handle 1g.

What is the maximum acceleration of a basketball?

[DDE]

8 hours ago, Spacescifi said:

Under constant acceleration of 1g, would a inflatable spaceship still be practical?

You can simply accept the slight lopsidedness.

[kerbiloid]

Under constant 1 g.

Spoiler

 

[Nuke]

i think the inflatable bits on a space habitat will be significantly thicker than what you have on a beach ball. its got to handle the pressure difference, heating, radiation, impacts with space debris, and the mass per square inch of surface is a lot higher than vinyl sheeting used in normal inflatables. pretty sure the inflatables would still be able to hold their own rigidity, but the deformation will be more substantial when under thrust. its going to be important not to put any additional loading on the structure though as you don't want any tearing or chaffing which is why you want a ridgid internal structure to stand on. 

[magnemoe]

1 hour ago, Nuke said:

i think the inflatable bits on a space habitat will be significantly thicker than what you have on a beach ball. its got to handle the pressure difference, heating, radiation, impacts with space debris, and the mass per square inch of surface is a lot higher than vinyl sheeting used in normal inflatables. pretty sure the inflatables would still be able to hold their own rigidity, but the deformation will be more substantial when under thrust. its going to be important not to put any additional loading on the structure though as you don't want any tearing or chaffing which is why you want a ridgid internal structure to stand on. 

Yes, the biglow fabric is pretty thick and very strong, more safe against micrometeorites than the ISS modules. 

Also guess they will but the heavy stuff near the core and more lightweight stuff like crew cabins at the edges. 
Trust is short duration so you can configure for it. 

Now one relevant case would be an ship or station using two or more inflatable habitats in an rotating space station, in this case flooring has to be designed for 1g constant force. while the habitat above is designed for micro gravity. 

This 3 floor setup could easy be used in gravity, you would need stairs and stronger floors.