| The automotive industry is one area of potential application for filament-wound composite pressure vessels. Emphasis on reducing emissions promotes the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) and also hydrogen fueled vehicles worldwide. Fuel cells in concert with hydrogen gas storage technologies are key requirements. Current ultra-high pressure vessels are low in structural efficiency. Also there exists a fundamental lack of confidence and ability to understand and predict their behaviours. With the complexity of the structure in the dome area and the relatively complicated mechanical properties of composite materials, complete theoretical analyses of ultra-high pressure composite vessels are almost impossible. The finite element method is one approach to calculate the stress distributions in composite pressure vessels, and to predict both the first ply failure and burst pressure. Such analysis, using nonlinear methods, is one of the crucial steps towards the optimization of thick-walled composite pressure vessels designs. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
