In this study, multi-layered composite overwrapped pressure vessels for high-pressure gaseous storage were designed, modeled by finite element method and manufactured by filament winding technique. 34CrMo4 steel was selected as a load-sharing metallic liner. Glass and carbon filaments were overwrapped on the liner with a winding angle of [±11°/90°2]3 to obtain fully overwrapped composite reinforced vessel with non-identical front and back dome endings. The vessels were loaded with increasing internal pressure up to the burst pressure level. The mechanical performances of pressure vessels, (i) fully overwrapped with glass fibers and (ii) with additional two carbon hoop layers on the cylindrical section, were investigated by both experimental and numerical approaches. In numerical approaches, finite element analysis was performed featuring a simple progressive damage model available in ANSYS software package for the composite section. The metal liner was modeled as elastic–plastic material. The results reveal that the finite element model provides a good correlation between experimental and numerical strain results for the vessels, together with the indication of the positive effect on radial deformation of the COPVs due to the composite interlayer hybridization. The constructed model was also able to predict experimental burst pressures within a range of 8%. However, the experimental and finite element analysis results showed that hybridization of hoop layers did not have any significant impact on the burst pressure performance of the vessels. This finding was attributed to the change of load-sharing capacity of composite layers due to the stiffness difference of carbon and glass fibers.

In this study, composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) for high-pressure hydrogen storage were designed, modeled by finite element (FE) method, manufactured by filament winding technique and tested for burst pressure. Aluminum 6061-T6 was selected as a metallic liner material. Epoxy impregnated carbon filaments were overwrapped over the liner with a winding angle of ±14° to obtain fully overwrapped composite reinforced vessels with non-identical front and back dome layers. The COPVs were loaded with increasing internal pressure up to the burst pressure level. During loading, deformation of the vessels was measured locally with strain gauges. The mechanical performances of COPVs designed with various number of helical, hoop and doily layers were investigated by both experimental and numerical methods. In numerical method, FE analysis containing a simple progressive damage model available in ANSYS software package for the composite section was performed. The results revealed that the FE model provides a good correlation as compared to experimental strain results for the developed COPVs. The burst pressure test results showed that integration of doily layers to the filament winding process resulted with an improvement of the COPVs performance.

Lightweight composite sandwich structures are laminated composite structures that are composed of thin stiff face sheets bonded to a thicker lightweight core in between. These structures have high potential to be used in marine, aerospace, defense and civil engineering applications due to their high strength to weight ratios and energy absorption capacity.In this study, composite sandwich structures were developed with carbon fiber reinforced polymer composite face sheets and aluminum honeycomb core materials with various thicknesses. Carbon fiber/epoxy composite face sheets were fabricated with lamination of [0/90]s carbon fabrics by vacuum infusion technique. Al honeycomb layers were sandwiched together with the face sheets using a thermosetting adhesive. Mechanical tests were carried out to determine the mechanical behavior of face sheets, Al cores and the composite structure. Effect of core thickness on the mechanical properties of the sandwich was investigated.

This paper presents a comparative study on the burst pressure performance of aluminum (Al) liner for Type-III composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs). In the analysis, the vessels were loaded with increasing internal pressure up to the burst pressure level. In the analytical part of the study, the burst pressure of the cylindrical part was predicted based on the modified von-Mises, Tresca, and Average Shear Stress criterion (ASSC). In the numerical analysis, a finite element (FE) model was established in order to predict the behavior of the vessel as a function of increasing internal pressure and determine the final burst. The Al pressure vessels made of Al-6061-T6 alloy with a capacity of 5L were designed. The experimental study was conducted by pressurizing the Al vessels until the burst failure occurred. The results obtained through analytical, numerical and experimental work were compared. The average experimental burst pressure of the vessels was found to be 279 bar. The experimental strain data were compared with the results of the FE analysis. The results indicated that the FE analysis and ASSC-based elastoplastic analytical approaches yielded the best predictions which are within 2.2% of the experimental burst failure values. It was also found that the elastic analysis underestimated the burst failure results; however, it was effective for determining the critical regions over the vessel structure. The strain behavior of the vessels obtained through experimental investigations was well correlated with those predicted through FE analysis.