Introducing manufacturing features into numerical modeling of hypervelocity impact damage of composite pressure vessels

Abstract

Composite pressure vessels are extensively used in unmanned spacecraft systems due to high specific strength of composites, which provides higher mass savings as compared to metallic vessels. The most common example is their use as liquid propellant tanks. Being a part of spacecraft, composite vessels are exposed to space environment, and therefore, may be subjected to hypervelocity impacts (HVI) by orbital debris or micrometeoroids. This paper analyzes the manufacturing features such as filament winding pattern and defects of fabrication that may influence the response of composite pressure vessels to HVI, and discusses the ways to introduce those features into the numerical modeling.