an option to the box-cavity

[freebeard]

Something like this but with internal partitions to maintain the shape?


https://africatuff.co.za/wp-content/...ER-TANKS-4.jpg

[aerohead]

That's the general idea.
The base would be flat against the trailer 'floor.'
With an inelastic fabric, a tailored shape would hold true to it's pattern, even without interior 'formers' and 'stringers.' ( I've seen a scale recreation of the Space Shuttle, including the two external Boosters, which had high fidelity to the real thing in spite of no interior 'supports.'
These aerospace, coated fabrics, used on inflated outdoor advertising are perfect for the job. Rip-stop fabrics are much lighter, although often lack UV radiation protection ( which ruins Nylon in short order ).
Once inflated, air is no longer moving, and very little blower power is required to maintain the necessary static pressure.
A reversing valve evacuates the air.
A zipper opens the fabric for removal of the other tarps, if stored inside.
The whole thing rolls up and stores until needed, and could fit into a dedicated, recessed alcove, built into the bulkhead. Cargo could then be placed directly against the bulkhead.
The forward gap-filler ought to be always be used.
Same for the two at the rear.

[Piotrsko]

If I understand the process correctly, you are building a bounce house on a flatbed.

AFAIK, the only aerospace quality inflatable skin is on the Goodyear blimp. Everything else is commercial grade to industrial spec and heavy for it's size. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44468010 Is a possible solution

[Vwbeamer]

Originally Posted by aerohead

All the half-tonneau R&D expense for GM, Ford, and Texas Tech seems to have fallen on blind eyes.
I've never seen one since 1988 except the ones built for friends, or for Gale Banks Racing, and their land speed record.

I have one? Or do you mean no car manufactor has incorporated the design.

[j-c-c]

Interesting application of inflatable Semi fairings, in the real world, its almost a sin to run a Semi empty on the road, and the payback not doing so is far greater than any fairing can recoup in efficiency. Think Uber for trucking?

Original idea sounds like the economic business model, "we will lose a little on every sale, but make it up in volume"

[aerohead]

A perfect analogy!
It's been since the mid-90s since I've been around the technology.
At that time, there were relatively lightweight, Hypalon-coated fabrics coming out of Spartanburg, South Carolina. It might have been James River Textiles. They were non-expandable, lighter than Naugahyde, and had UV resistant coatings.
When I see today's, car lot helium blimps, inflatable outdoor bounce houses, and advertising, I think immediately of these fabrics.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Vwbeamer

I have one? Or do you mean no car manufactor has incorporated the design.

Yeah, it's the lack of an OEM option or standard equipment that's curious.
In 1981, Ford knew that 12-inches of plywood, spanning the bed rails, ahead of the tailgate of a pickup, would show at the gas pump.
In March of 1986, General Motors was granted US Patent 4,573,730, for the half-tonneau, which included test results for all lengths of a tonneau cover in Figure 2. ( an expansion of the 1981 FoMoCo concept)
In 1988, Ford-financed research at Texas Tech University produced ' Darg Reduction For Various Truck Configurations' which included cab-wings, tonneaus, the half-tonneau, and GM's 'Aero Shell', none of which ever made it into production, with the exception of GM's AVALANCHE, GM's Holden Ute, and Dodge's RAM 1500 Eco.
In 2002, when Popular Science was going to streamline a pickup to compete against a Ford Taurus sedan, GM's Roger Clark, recommended mods to the Silverado pickup which included a full-tonneau, even though the half-tonneau was known to produce lower drag.