Filament Wound Spherical Composite Pressure Vessel Design by an Energy Method

Abstract

A design method for filament wound spherical composite pressure vessels is suggested. This method utilizes an energy method to yield a simple equation, which can easily be applied to design spherical pressure vessels by on-site engineers. Generally, the design of a filament wound pressure vessel involves repeated and complicated structural analysis to find an optimal fiber orientation. But the orientation of fibers to form a spherical vessel cannot be decided just by the aspect of structural effectiveness. The way of winding a spherical vessel may vary due to the manufacturing hardware conditions as well as the software. The out look appearance of the surface of the vessel is also an important aspect. Thus, it takes prolonged time to design a filament wound pressure vessel using a general structural analysis. In this study, a simple design equation for filament wound spherical composite pressure vessels is suggested. This equation can be applied to design any spherical composite pressure vessel as long as the end-boss diameter of the vessel is relatively small, and the total thickness of the filament composite layers over the inner liner is equal, no matter what the winding sequence is. This equation can easily be used by on-site engineers to design spherical composite pressure vessels.