Design of Composite Pressure Vessels with Metallic and Plastic Liners

Abstract

Lightweight composite pressure vessels were designed with thin metallic and plastic liners. This paper discusses the structural design, the fabrication, and the experiment of the composite pressure vessels with metallic and plastic liners. Both liners were non-load sharing types, therefore only the composite sustained an internal pressure. The liner provided a gas seal. The materials of the liners were Al 6061 and CLPE (cross linked polyethylene) each. The composite pressure vessels were winded using T700 carbon/epoxy on the liners. The multiple cure cycles prevented the aluminum liner from losing a circular shape and the concentrated force at the metallic boss was spread to the composite fiber by the boss design. In case of the plastic liner, the boss design considered that CLPE had no adhesive property. Although the plastic liner has the advantage for the elongation, some environmental tests for temperature and vibration effects are needed in order to use in space applications.