cylinder with convex endcaps?

On 5/16/14 7:28 AM, 'Combs, Mike' mikecombs@... [spacesettlers] wrote:

> I think youre right about the stress at the seams. Another issue is
> that in the existing design, every part of the endcap is in tension.
> With convex endcaps, every part of it would be under compression. And
> all building materials are stronger in tension than under compression.

Well, I don't think that last point is true for all materials.
Concrete, for example, is very strong under compression but very weak
under tension.

So with inverted endcaps, you might need to switch to a different
material (which just exacerbates the difficulty at the seam).

> Thats also one of the reasons why designing structures for space
> habitats might always be easier than structures for habitats on the
> ocean floor.

Yes, good point there. The other major reason is that we never need to
support more than 1 atm of pressure in space, whereas seafloor habitats
quickly go to dozens or hundreds of atmospheres.

Cheers,
- Joe