Influences of Fabrication Defects Upon the Strength and Lives of Filament Wound Composite Cylinders

Filament wound composite cylinders are much expected as fuel gas containers for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen transportation containers, or pressurizing hydrogen accumulators due to their high performances in strength and lightness. Stress distribution in the cylinder can be controlled by the winding modes of the filaments and the liner thickness design. However, small fabrication defects may sometimes result irregular changes in stress distribution in the composite and liner layers and influences much upon the strength and lives of the composite cylinders. Stress distributions can be analyzed by a finite element method by modeling the mechanical anisotropy in composite layers and elasto-plasticity in the liner layer. The deviation of the position of the hoop layer ends influences much upon the basic performance of the vessel.