How high can an airship rise?

[akhmeteli]

Each to their own. You go your way. If I thought your solution was best, I would still take a contrary way, to explore a different valley.

No published analysis. Too many threads yet to pull together, too many still to reject.

Buckling is critical to any chamber subjected to a net positive external pressure. You are concerned with the buckling of a shell. I am concerned with column stability, of structures that spread the load, with sufficient redundancy to allow for some failure.

My envelope is interesting, because it must be lightweight, so it should not be under great tension. By allowing it to flex inwards, the tension can be minimised. The skin then takes on a deeply dimpled surface, so looks a bit like an exaggerated golf ball, or a starved horse.

Thank you for the information. By the way, what you describe seems similar to US patent 10625842 by Nathan Rapport.