Study of Parachute Forces and Canopy Pressure Distribution Measured in a Subsonic Wind Tunnel under Infinite Mass Conditions

For the purpose of parachute canopy stress analysis during the period of inflation, the pressure distribution measured on a ring-slot parachute model is related to the instantaneous parachute force. The correlation of pressure and force data is based on test results established at the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft-und Raumfahrt (DFLR), Braunschweig, Germany. The final pressure-force-time relationship incorporate individual as well as averaged test data. A fair agreement could be shown between measured forces and those obtained from numerical integration of differential pressure over the canopy surface.