Burst Pressure Determination of Vehicle Toroidal Oval Cross-Section LPG Fuel Tanks

This study addresses the prediction of the burst pressures and burst failure locations of the vehicle toroidal liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel tanks using both experimental and finite element analysis (FEA) approaches. The experimental burst test investigations were carried out hydrostatically in which the cylinders were internally pressurized with water. The FEA modeling processes of these LPG fuel tanks subjected to incremental internal uniform pressure were performed in the nonlinear field. Two different types of nonlinear models, plane and shell, were developed and evaluated under nonuniform and axisysmmetric boundary conditions. The required actual shell properties including weld zone and shell thickness variations were also investigated and used in the computerized modeling processes. Therefore, the results of the burst pressures and their failure locations were predicted and compared with experimental ones.