Improving composite lay-up for non-spherical filament-wound pressure vessels

Abstract

This paper describes a filament winding process that results in a constant thickness lay-up of composite over the end closures of a dome-ended cylindrical vessel. The winding pattern over the dome ends is based upon the delta-axisymmetric method used for spherical vessels, but the presence of the cylindrical section requires enhancement of the technique to achieve satisfactory coverage. Iterative design of the fibre path is followed by explicit fibre path definition and generation of machine control instructions. Conclusions are drawn on the relative merits of producing high performance vessels from this process and from conventional filament winding techniques. Further work is then proposed to determine the range of vessel geometries for which the technique would bring increased performance.