Gg. Chew et al., ON THE PRESENCE OF BENDING STRESSES IN INFLATED THIN-WALLED STRUCTURES, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part C, Journal of mechanical engineering science, 211(5), 1997, pp. 341-348
It is proposed that, in appropriate circumstances, membrane structures
can experience bending moments. On uniformly inflating a thin sheet s
tructure, which has a shape consisting of multiple curvatures, the str
ucture will deform in such a way that the final shape will have a sing
le radius of curvature, assuming that failure does not occur. It is th
e large change of shape from a multicurvature surface to a single curv
ature surface that causes bending moments to exist within a membrane.
The validity of the hypothesis has been demonstrated using four finite
element models, including an elliptical cylinder, an ellipsoid, a 'do
uble' cone and a trileaflet heart valve.