Accepted Manuscript

Design and Analysis of Filament-wound Composite Pressure Vessels Based on

Non-geodesic Winding

Lei Zu, Hui Xu, Huabi Wang, Bing Zhang, Bin Zi

PII: S0263-8223(18)32753-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2018.09.007
Reference: COST 10153

To appear in: Composite Structures

Received Date: 31 July 2018

Revised Date: 19 August 2018
Accepted Date: 14 September 2018

Please cite this article as: Zu, L., Xu, H., Wang, H., Zhang, B., Zi, B., Design and Analysis of Filament-wound
Composite Pressure Vessels Based on Non-geodesic Winding, Composite Structures (2018), doi: https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.compstruct.2018.09.007

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 Design and Analysis of Filament-wound Composite Pressure Vessels
Based on Non-geodesic Winding

Lei Zu, Hui Xu, Huabi Wang*, Bing Zhang, Bin Zi

School of Mechanical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China

Abstract: In this paper a novel design approach was proposed for determining the optimal

winding parameters of composite pressure vessels based on non-geodesic trajectories. With

the aid of the differential theory and winding principles, the non-geodesic trajectories were

derived for various tangent points. The obtained non-geodesics for composite pressure vessels

were simulated using MATLAB to verify the validity of the trajectory design. The influence

of the number of the tangent points and the roving bandwidth on the non-geodesic winding

patterns was evaluated. The optimal number of the tangent points and the roving bandwidth

were then determined while ensuring fiber stability and full coverage on the mandrel. The

finite element model of the pressure vessel was established, taken variable ply thicknesses and

angles along the dome meridian into account. In addition, the stress distributions of the

aluminum liner and the composite overwrap were obtained and the burst pressure of the

pressure vessel was predicted. The specimen of a composite pressure vessel was fabricated

using the filament winder and the experimental results were consistent with the theoretically

predicted ones. It is concluded that the present method is of great significance for design and

manufacture of composite pressure vessels.

Keywords: Composite material; Filament winding; Pressure vessel; Non-geodesic; Winding

pattern

*Corresponding author.
E-mail address: wunghb@126.com (H. Wang).
1 Introduction

Filament-wound composite pressure vessels are taken as significant storage devices with

many advantages, such as lightweight, higher strength, excellent fatigue and corrosion

resistance, which has proved particularly useful for components of aerospace, military

applications and hydrospace [1]. Typical pressure vessels are composed of a cylindrical

section and two quasi-spherical domes and fabricated by using the filament winding technique.

Since winding patterns particularly determine the roving stability, the overlap and

accumulation of fibers and the laminate thickness distribution on the dome area, the optimal

design of winding patterns is one of the important issues in the design of composite pressure

vessels.

Recently, numerous investigations for the winding pattern design focus on the plane

winding [2], geodesic [3-5] and semi-geodesic winding [6-8]. It has proved from literatures,

simulations and experiments that the semi-geodesic winding in combination with slippage

coefficients provides improved structure performance and storage efficiency of composite

structures and is utilized to manufacture irregular components as well [9-10]. One should be

note that the geodesic winding is actually preferred for designing and manufacturing toroidal

pressure vessels in engineering applications. Although the geodesics display great stability on

a supporting surface and relatively easy to calculated, there is a major defect in that once the

meridian profile, polar opening radii and initial winding angle are given, the geodesic

trajectory is entirely determined, restricting the available design space. Consequently, it is

desirable to exploit non-geodesics to enlarge the design space for obtaining the optimal

winding patterns. A number of investigations have been conducted on the design of

non-geodesic-based composite structures. Koussios et.al.[11] revealed the winding laws of the

ellipsoidal, rotationally symmetric and isotensoidal components by non-geodesic trajectories,

analyzed the dynamic equations of winding machines and acquired the winding trajectories,

the motion range of feed eye and the optimal winding time. Due to the dome regions

withstanding the highest stress levels, the geometrical determination of the dome is the critical

part in the design of pressure vessels. Based on the non-geodesic trajectories, Zu et al. [12]

outlined an efficient method for designing isotensoid pressure vessels with unequal polar

openings, further improving the structural performance. Considering the continuum theory

showing the ability to cover the complete range from fully orthotropic to entirely isotropic

materials and the expansive design space of non-geodesic-based winding patterns, an optimal

method for designing filament-wound domes of pressure vessels was employed and evaluated

[13]. Since the optimal meridian profile is of significance for the articulated pressure

structures, a method was presented to address how to optimally design a vex-concave

combined structure overwound using non-geodesic trajectories to fulfill the goal of

optimizing the meridian profile [14]. In order to improve the performance and geometric

flexibility of composite toroidal hydrogen storage tanks, Zu et al. [15] proposed an approach

combining isotensoidal structures with non-geodesic winding patters. Zhang et al. [16]

employed both the geodesics and non-geodesics to investigate and produce filament-wound

composite elbows, predicting the burst pressure using finite element method.

As already known from literatures, non-geodesic winding patterns have gained sufficient

attentions, by which a member of designs and optimizations of fiber trajectories have been
carried out. However, the influence of the winding process on designed winding patterns has

been overlooked in majority of investigations, which directly leads that the designed

parameters of winding patterns are difficult to implement in the winding process or the

performances of products is extremely different from the desired values. The netting theory

[17-19] is a sample method and has been adopted to analyze the structure of pressure vessels

in engineering applications, however, the designed winding parameters based on the netting

theory dissatisfy the process requirements such as the slippage and fiber stacking resulting in

winding angle changing and non-uniform layer thickness when the size of the mandrel is

determined. Moreover, the calculations using the netting theory are solely based on the fiber

strength and the matrix effect is not taken into account. Therefore, investigating novel

winding patterns in combination with process requirements is the key to solving these

problems.

In this paper the non-geodesic-based winding patterns combining with a reliable and

accurate optimization method were simulated to obtain the winding parameters satisfying the

process requirements and to improve the design efficiency maximally utilizing the composite

material strength, which further sufficiently enlarge the design space of winding patterns as

well. Based on the designed winding parameters, the finite element model of the pressure

vessel was established using ABAQUS. The stress distributions of the aluminum liner and the

composite overwrap were calculated and the burst pressure of the pressure vessel was

predicted. In addition, the hydrostatic test was carried out to compare the finite element

method.
2 Winding pattern design based on non-geodesics
2.1 Non-geodesic equations

With respect to the model depicted in the Fig.1, assuming that the meridian equation is

r=r(z), the surface of revolution is given by:

r  , z    r cos , r sin  , z  (1)

where r, z represent the radial and the axial distances, and  denotes the angular coordinate in

the parallel direction.

By the derivatives of Eq.(1) with respect to  and z, respectively, the vectors r and rz

are obtained as:

r   r sin  , r cos , z ，rz   r ' cos , r 'sin  ,1 (2)

where r' is the first derivative of r with respect to z

During filament winding process the fiber stability is achieved once the roving

placement follows the predetermined winding trajectories. The requirement that the fibers are

closely attached on the supporting surface without sliding is s where  is the slippage

coefficient and s is the maximum static friction coefficient, and s ranges from 0.3 to 0.4 in

engineering applications. The slippage coefficient  is defined as the ratio of the geodesic

curvature kg to the normal curvature kn [20]:

 = k g kn (3)

According to the differential geometry [21], the first fundamental formal of r(, z) are:

E =r 2 , F  0, G  r '2  1 (4)

The normal curvature kn at the point P assigned on the surface of the mandrel is

expressed as follows:
 r '2  r ''
kn 
1  r   r  '2 1 2 2 '2
 1  r '2 
(5)

where  ' is the derivation of  with respect to z; r'' are the second derivatives of r with

respect to z.

Substituting Eq(4) into the Liouville formula [21], the geodesic curvature is expressed as：

kg 
1+r  2r   r   rr   r
' ' ' '' ' ' '2
 r'' 
(6)
1  r  1  r  r  '2 1 2 '2 2 '2 3 2

Combining Eq. (5) with Eq. (6), after some arrangements, the turn-around angle equation

of the fibers is obtained by:

  r ' 2  r'' 1  r' 2  r 2 ' 2  2 1  r' 2  r' '  rr' r'' '  r 2 r' ' 3
12

 
'
 (7)
r 1  r' 2  r 1  r' 2 

Fig.1 illustrates that filament winding angle is the angle between the fiber trajectory and

the meridian curve, given by:

12
  rz  1  r' 2 
cos     2 '2 '2  (8)
  rz  r   1  r 

where  is the tangent vector at the point P assigned on the curve C.

According to Eq. (8), the following equation are induced:

1
1  r' 2  tan 
12
' = (9)
r

Assuming that the initial winding angle at the cylindrical section of the pressure vessel is

0, the initial condition is given by:

 z 0 0
(10)
' z 0 
1
r
1  r' 2  z 0  tan  0

For =0 the solution of Eq. (7) is the general geodesic equation. For 0 since Eq. (7)

contains the second-order differential form of the parameter, which is of difficulty to acquire
the solution of the equation. Nevertheless, based on the initial condition given by Eq. (10), the

solution of Eq. (7) can be calculated by using the Runge-Kutta formula.

z2 r2
For pressure vessels with ellipsoidal domes, the meridian curve equation is  1
b2 R 2

where b and R are the semi-minor axis and the semi-major axis of the ellipse, respectively, as

shown in Fig.2. Simultaneously, R is the radius of the cylindrical section.

According to the meridian curve equation, the following expressions are now introduced:


 R 2
r  b b  z
2


 '  Rz
r  (11)
 b b2  z 2
 ''  Rb
r 
b  z 2 
32
 2


Substituting Eq. (11) into Eq. (10), get:

1
' z 0  tan  0 (12)
R

Assuming that   F ( z, R, b,  0 ,  ) stands for the relation of turn-around angle  and

the parameters at the dome area, the fiber trajectory equation is written as:

 R 2
 x  b b  z  cos  F  z , R, b,  0 ,   
2


 R 2
y  b  z 2  sin  F  z , R, b,  0 ,    (13)
 b
 zz



Since the fiber trajectories on the cylindrical section are helixes, it is relatively easy to

calculate the axial length corresponding to each pitch. Therefore, the equation for obtaining

the turn-around angle of the fibers on the cylindrical section can be further obtained.

Fig.3 illustrates that L and D stand for the length and the radius of the cylindrical section,

respectively. The turn-around angle  of the fiber trajectories on the cylindrical section is
given as:

D
w
tan 
(14)
L L tan 
=  3600   3600
w D

The equation of the fiber trajectories on the cylindrical section is thus obtained by

expressions:

 R 2  z tan  0 
 x  b b  z  cos  R 
2

  
 R 2  z tan  
y  b  z 2  sin  0
 (15)
 b  R 
 zz



2.2 Optimization of winding parameters

In this paper the inpoint method of SUMT is used to optimize the multidimensional

unconstrained linear problems so as to obtain the relation between the winding angles and the

slippage coefficients while the polar opening radii are determined. When the dimensionless

polar radii are 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8, respectively, the relation of the winding angle  and

slippage coefficient  is depicted in Fig.4, indicating that the winding angle is approximately

linearly related to the slippage coefficient.

With the inpoint method of SUMT employed for the optimal design, the fiber stability

and uniform coverage on the mandrel are taken as constraints. The difference values of

turn-around angles calculated from the linear and winding parameters are used as the

objective function. Substituting constrains into the objective function, the constrained

nonlinear programming problem is transformed into the unconstrained extremum problem

that is solved by using the unconstrained optimization method. The optimization procedure of
the inpoint method of SUMT is depicted in the flow chart Fig. 5.

where X  0 stands for the initial parameter; r  0 represents the initial value of penalty

factor; c denotes decreasing coefficient; 1 is the convergence precision and k is the number

of the iteration.

The parameters of the mandrel are that the radius R and length L of the cylindrical

section are 83mm and 400mm, respectively, and the semi-minor axis of the ellipse b is

41.5mm. In order to ensure the mandrel uniformly covered with fibers, the number of the

wound circuit (a wound circuit is defined as the winding process that continuous fibers start at

a certain point on the mandrel and wind several cycles until return to the starting point.) is

introduced by:

 S =n  M

  2 R cos  0   B  (16)
 M  ceil  
  nB 

where M stands for the number of the wound circuit while the mandrel is uniformly covered

with fibers; ceil represents the integer taken backwards

Fig.4 shows that when the polar opening radii are determined, the constraint function

gu   X   g 0 ,   is obtained according to the relation between the winding angles and the

slippage coefficients.

According to the objective function P  X   1  X   2  X  , the following equations are

given by:

 K  B
1  X  =  n  N   2  nR cos 
    0 (17)
 X  4  2
 2 
where n is the number of the tangent points; N(0,1,2,3,…) is the non-negative integer; K is an

integer number, which satisfies the requirement that K/n is the simplest true fraction;  is the

turn-around angle of fiber trajectories on the dome, given by Eq. (7);  is the turn-around

angle of fiber trajectories on the cylindrical section, given by Eq.(14).

When the size of the mandrel is determined, once a set of linear parameters are input, the

corresponding winding parameters satisfying the optimal conditions are obtained. Linear

parameters include the number of the tangent points n, the roving bandwidth B and the integer

number K.

2.3 Simulation of non-geodesic winding patterns

During filament winding process roving bandwidth is the key to ensure fibers full

coverage on the mandrel. Therefore, taking the roving bandwidth into account in the

simulation of non-geodesic winding patterns can provide a valuable reference for the winding

process design, the placement of rovings on the mandrel and the calculations for the layer

thickness of domes. With the roving bandwidth of 4.1mm, the winding parameters are

optimized using the inpoint method of SUMT and then the simulation of non-geodesic

winding patterns is carried out to investigate the placement of fibers on the supporting surface;

the optimized results are depicted in Table.1.

 Table.1. Optimization results

No. of Rc=0.2 Rc=0.4 Rc=0.6 Rc=0.8

Integer
tangent Winding Slippage Winding Slippage Winding Slippage Winding Slippage
number
points angle(°) coefficient angle(°) coefficient angle(°) coefficient angle(°) coefficient

1 1 4.9382 0.0965 9.5432 0.2146 - - 43.3697 0.2088

2 3 - - - - 28.0955 0.1499 50.8890 0.0486

4 - - 19.113 0.0689 23.7237 0.2239 48.5281 0.0989

3
5 - - - - 32.0420 0.0831 51.5321 0.0349

5 - - 16.7012 0.1065 21.5378 0.2609 47.2232 0.1267

4
7 - - - - 33.9679 0.0505 - -

6 10.7495 0.0116 15.1514 0.1292 20.0313 0.2864 46.5098 0.1419

7 - - 20.9041 0.0416 25.3838 0.1958 49.4434 0.0794

5
8 - - - - 30.4351 0.1103 52.1845 0.0210

9 - - - - 35.0254 0.0326 39.5543 0.2903

7 9.6963 0.0270 14.1138 0.1450 - - 45.9371 0.1541

6
11 - - - - 35.7816 0.0198 40.1685 0.2770

Table.1 shows that numerous winding patterns can be selected as the polar opening

radius increases. The polar opening radius is rc=17mm, in other words, the dimensionless

polar opening radius is 0.20. Therefore, the winding angle 0=10.7495°, slippage coefficient

=0.0116, the number of the tangent points n=5 and the integer number K=6 are chosen for

simulation of non-geodesic winding patterns. A wound circuit is finished after 5 rounds of

filament winding, as depicted in Fig. 6(a). According to Eq. (16), the mandrel is covered

uniformly with fibers after 25 wound circuits, as shown in Fig. 6 (b).

Fig.6 indicates that the rovings overlap at the position of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1' , 2' , 3' , 4' ,

5' and 6' . The reason for this is that the circumferential width of the individual roving

placed on the mandrel is not necessarily an integral multiple of the cross-sectional

circumference of the mandrel when the winding parameters and the number of the tangent

point are determined. Nevertheless, the roving bandwidth and the size of mandrel are
determined during filament winding process, therefore, the overlap of rovings cannot be

effectively avoided.

To evaluate the influence of the bandwidth on winding patterns, the simulation of

non-geodesic winding patterns is carried out using two rovings (the roving bandwidth is

8.2mm) and three rovings (the roving bandwidth is 12.3mm), respectively, and the number of

the tangent point is 5, as shown in Fig.7. The results are compared to the ones of an individual

roving (the roving bandwidth is 4.1mm).

Fig.7 illustrates that as the roving bandwidth increases, the number of the wound circuit

decreases after the mandrel is uniformly covered with rovings. The length of rovings placed

along circumferential direction is written as:

2nMB
lc  (18)
cos  0 

where B is the roving bandwidth. M is the number of the wound circuit when the mandrel is

covered with the individual roving.

Eq. (18) indicates that the length of rovings placed along the circumferential direction

increases as the roving bandwidth increases. Fig.6 and Fig.7 show that the overlap of rovings

increase in the last wound circuit. Consequently, the roving bandwidth is as small as necessary.

However, with the roving bandwidth decreasing, the total number of fibers placed on the

cylindrical section increases and fibers overlap seriously on the dome area, resulting in the

thickness of the dome increasing as well. Therefore, the roving bandwidth is not as small as

possible. Taking the influence of various roving bandwidths into account comprehensively,

two rovings are employed for manufacturing the pressure vessel in this paper.
 While the polar opening radii are determined, the winding angle and slippage coefficient

change with the number of the tangent points n. When n = 5, 6, 13, the corresponding winding

angles are 10.7495°, 9.6963°, 11.4871°, respectively, and the slippage coefficients are 0.0116,

0.0270, 0.0079, respectively. Based on these parameters, the corresponding simulations of

non-geodesic winding patterns are carried out, as depicted in Fig.8.

Fig.8 shows that as the number of the tangent points increases, the number of the wound

circuit decreases after the mandrel is uniformly covered with the individual layer. When the

number of the tangent points is 5, 6, 13, respectively, substituting the linear and winding

parameters corresponding to various tangent points into Eq. (17), the length of the rovings

placed along the circumferential direction is 542.52mm, 549.04mm and 543.89mm,

respectively. In addition, the circumference of the cylindrical section is 518.36mm and the

overall length of the rovings overlapping along circumferential direction is thus 24.16mm,

30.68mm, 25.53mm, respectively. Since the rovings overlap at the position where the first

fiber bundle is tangential to the polar opening, the length of the gaps along the circumferential

direction is 4.832mm, 5.113mm, 1.964mm, respectively, after the mandrels are covered with

the rovings corresponding to various tangent points.

It is concluded that the overlap of rovings is uniformly distributed as the number of the

tangent point increases. Therefore, the number of the tangent point should be appropriately

increased in order to improve the uniformity of the circumferential thickness distribution of

layers in filament winding process.

3 Finite element analysis of composite pressure vessels
3.1 Winding parameters

The geometric models of the pressure vessel include the model of the composite

overwrap and the model of the metal liner. The parameters of the composite overwrap consist

mainly of the ply angle and thickness, which are easily calculated. One should note that for

the composite overwrap at the dome section, the ply angle can be obtained by combining Eq.

(7) with Eq. (12); the calculations of the dome thickness are expressed as follows:

According to the aforementioned calculations and simulations, the related parameters of

the pressure vessel have been obtained such as the winding angle of the cylindrical section

(0=11.4871°), the slippage coefficient (=0.0079), the number of the tangent points (n=13)

and the roving bandwidth (B=8.2mm).

Since the radius of parallel circle on the dome area is constantly changing, the layer

thickness of the dome is different. Fig.9 shows that when a point A is in the range of an

individual roving bandwidth at the edge of the polar opening, the rovings in the range of the

curve BC all pass the point A.

Assuming that S stands for the number of fiber bundle on the equator and hp represents

an individual layer thickness of the fiber bundle, the layer thickness at point A is given by:

BOC
h Shp (19)
2

According to the geometric relation depicted in Fig.9, the following equation is induced:

BOC =2  E   A  (20)

where A and E are the turn-around angles of the rovings from the point B on the equator to

the point A and the point E on the roving, which are given by Eq.(7) while the slippage
coefficient  (=0.0079) is determined. Substitution of Eq.(20) into Eq.(19) leads to:
Shp
h  E   A  (21)


Fig.10 shows that when a point on the dome is out of an individual roving bandwidth, the

rovings going through the point A are pertain to the range of the curve BD. The curve from the

equator to the polar opening with radius of rc is C1. C2 represents the curve from the equator to

the polar opening with radius of rc+w, therefore, the following relation can be obtained.

BOC  C   B (22)

where C is the turn-around angle from the point C to the point A on the curve C2. B is

the turn-around angle from the point B to the point A on the curve C1. The layer thickness at

point A can be thus expressed as:

S 
h   C   B   1 hp (23)
 2 

The dome height of the aluminum liner is 40.36mm. The number of the fiber bundle on

the equator is 65 (S=65) and the thickness of an individual fiber bundle in helical direction is

0.17mm ( h p =0.17mm). Combining Eqs. (21) and (23), the thickness and winding angle of the

individual layer corresponding to the various parallel circles on the dome area are calculated

and shown in Fig.11.

Fig.11 illustrates the thickness of the individual layer increases and then decreases as the

radius of the parallel circle increases. The thickness of the individual layer of the cylindrical

section is the minimum and achieves the maximum at the position a bandwidth to the

periphery of the pole. The thickness of the composite overwrap increases from the equator to

the polar area due to severe fiber stacking in the vicinity of the polar opening.
3.2 Material properties

The liner was made of aluminum 6061AL-T6 and the composite overwrap was made of

T800HB-12K-50B carbon fiber/EW60D epoxy resin. The geometry of the aluminum liner is

schematized in Fig. 12. The mechanical properties of the composite material were obtained by

experiments, as shown in Table.2. The mechanical properties of the aluminum liner refer to

some literatures, as listed in Table.3.

Table.2. Mechanical properties of the used composite material

E1(GPa) E2(GPa) G12(GPa) G23(GPa) G13(GPa) v12

144.89 19.56 6.12 7.52 6.12 0.33

Table.3 Mechanical properties of the aluminum liner 6061AL-T6

Elasticity modulus Plasticity modulus Yield strength Ultimate strength

Poisson's ratio
(GPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa)

144.89 0.69 6.12 7.52 6.12

For the aluminum liner, not only the elastic deformation needs to be taken into account,

but also the plastic deformation is considered in the computational process. When the liner is

subjected to small internal pressure, the liner shows elastic deformation; when the stress is

greater than the yield stress under the internal pressure, the materials is pertain to the plastic

deformation, and the strain of the liner is composed of the elastic and plastic strain. Therefore,

both the mechanical properties of the aluminum liner and the stress-strain relation in the

process of the plastic deformation are necessary in finite element simulations. The

stress-strain relation of the aluminum liner in the process of the plastic deformation can be

computed by the nominal strain and stress of plastic metal materials, as shown in Fig. 13.
3.3 Finite element analysis

Since the structure, material and the internal pressures of the composite pressure vessel

are symmetry, a quarter of the finite element model was established using ABAQUS. The

shell element S4R is the basic element of composite layers, and the continuous solid element

C3D8R is adopted to mesh the liner. The finite element models of composite layers and the

aluminum liner are depicted in Fig. 14.

The layup scheme of the cylindrical section was locked to alternate sequence between

helix and hoop layer, as shown Table 4, and the thickness of the individual hoop layer is

0.15mm, which is slightly smaller than that of the individual helical layer. In addition, the

number of the composite layers at the dome section is 8 and the winding angle and thickness

of an individual layer are given by combination of Eq. (19) with Eq. (21).

Table.4 Type of layup for the cylindrical section

No. of layers Winding angle(/°) Layer type No. of layers Winding angle(/°) Layer type
1 11.5 Helix 2 11.5 Helix
3 89.1 Hoop 4 89.1 Hoop
5 11.5 Helix 6 11.5 Helix
7 89.1 Hoop 8 89.1 Hoop
9 11.5 Helix 10 11.5 Helix
11 89.1 Hoop 12 89.1 Hoop
13 11.5 Helix 14 11.5 Helix
15 89.1 Hoop 16 89.1 Hoop

Symmetry constraints were utilized to apply on the symmetry surface of the finite

element model, and the axial displacement of the end face of the polar opening was fixed.

Simultaneously, tie constraints were applied between the composite layers and the liner. The

autofrettage pressure was uniformly applied to the inner surface of the liner to make the

aluminum liner yield and was then unloaded. Afterwards, the internal pressure was loaded
again up to the burst pressure. The stress distributions of the composite overwrap were

calculated under working pressure of 30MPa.

4. Experiments
4.1 Fabrication of a composite pressure vessel

For the computational model, a pressure vessel was manufactured for the hydrostatic test

to verify the accuracy and feasibility of the present method. According to the designed

winding parameters, the five-axis numerical control winding machine was used to fabricate

the pressure vessel with an aluminum liner. During filament winding process two rovings

were overwound simultaneously and the roving bandwidth is 8.2mm. Considering the

precision of the winding machine, the winding angle and the slippage coefficient are

approximately 11.5° and 0.008, respectively. The number of the tangent points during the

helical winding is 13, which is consistent with the simulated results. The fibers show great

stability and had barely overlapped or gapped during the winding process, as shown in Fig.15.

4.2 Burst pressure test

During the hydrostatic test (see Fig. 16) the hydraulic pressure was applied twice.

Firstly, the hydraulic pressure was applied up to the autofrettage pressure and was then

unloaded. In order to ensure the autofrettage pressure was reached, the hydraulic pressure was

applied until the liner yielded and the composite overwrap still pertained to the elastic

deformation. Secondly, the hydraulic pressure was loaded again until the pressure vessel

exploded and the resulting burst pressure was 85MPa.

5. Results and discussion

According to Fig.17, the stress levels of hoop winding layers of the cylindrical section
are higher than the ones of helical winding layers. The maximum stresses of the hoop winding

layer and the helical winding layer are 804.1MPa and 313.8MPa, respectively, indicating that

the stress levels of hoop winding layers and helical winding layers are quite different. This is

due to the reason that the hoop winding layers are subjected to the greater tensile stress while

the internal pressure is applied, demonstrating that the circumferential tensile stress is greater

than the axial stress.

Fig.18 indicates that the stress levels of the cylindrical section of the liner is higher and

the stress concentration is generated in the transition region between the dome area and the

cylindrical section. The reason for this is that the dome area of the liner is reinforced and the

thickness increases gradually from the conjunction of the cylindrical section and the dome

area to the dome top, which leads that the thickness of the dome top is 2.5 times than that of

the cylindrical section. In addition, due to the particularity of the dome structure, the stress

levels of the dome are lower as compared to that of the cylindrical section. The transition

region between the dome area and the cylindrical section is discontinuous on account of

alternate sequence between helix and hoop layer, resulting in the stress concentration in the

transition region. The maximum equivalent plastic strain of the cylindrical section is

4.786e-03 and the PEEQ of the dome head is 0, indicating that the cylindrical section of the

liner already yields on account of the composite layers of the cylindrical section acting as the

major load-bearing structure under internal pressure, however, the dome is pertain to the

elastic deformation. Since the equivalent plastic strain is resulting from the strain

accumulation of the liner in the plastic strain process, the PEEQ increases or remains constant
as the second internal pressure is applied after the autofrettage pressure is generate.

In this paper the maximum strain theory is employed to predict the burst pressure of the

pressure vessel. During burst process the fracture stain of hoop winding layers is about 85

percent of that of the pure fiber. It is known that the fracture strain of the pure fiber is 0.018,

therefore, the fracture strain of hoop winding layers is 0.0153. The relation between the

circumferential strain and the internal pressure is shown in Fig. 19 as the second internal

pressure is applied on the liner.

Fig. 19 shows that when the maximum strain of the hoop winding layer is 0.0153, the

corresponding strength is 89.1MPa. The curve in Fig.19 does not go through the original point

on account of the autofrettage pressure, leading that hoop winding layers can still generate

strain while the internal pressure is 0. When the internal pressure is 89.1MPa, the strain

distributions of helical winding layers are shown in Fig.20. According to the maximum strain

criterion, when the second hydraulic pressure is 89.1MPa, the pressure vessel bursts at the

cylindrical section.

In addition, the burst pressure of the pressure vessel is 85MPa by the test and the error is

4.82% as compared to the predicted value using finite element method, which illustrates the

method and models proposed in this paper are reliable.

6. Conclusions

In this paper the non-geodesic equations of the pressure vessel was derived using the

differential theory and winding principles. When the polar opening radii were determined, the

inpoint method of SUMT was employed to obtain optimal winding parameters in order to
ensure fiber stability and full coverage on the mandrel and to satisfy the process requirements.

In addition, the influence of the roving bandwidth and the number of the tangent points on the

fiber trajectory design was evaluated in the simulation of non-geodesic winding patterns.

Finally, according the optimal parameters, the finite element model of the pressure vessel was

established using ABAQUS. The finite element analysis of the aluminum liner and the

composite overwrap was carried out and the burst pressure of the pressure vessels was

predicted which was compared to the experimental results. Consequently, the conclusions are

summarized as follows:

(1) When the polar opening radii are determined, as the slippage coefficient increases,

the winding angle decreases and the relation between them is approximately linear.

(2) According to the simulations of non-geodesic winding patterns, fibers overlap around

the tangent points. The increase of the roving bandwidth leads to fibers seriously overlapping.

The layer thickness of the dome increases as the roving bandwidth decreases. Moreover, an

appropriate increase in the number of tangent point reduces the fiber overlap, and the

thickness of composite layers is distributed more uniformly along the circumferential

direction.

(3) The stress of composite layers on the cylindrical section is the maximum under the

pressure of 30MPa using finite element simulations. The predicted burst pressure of the

pressure vessel is 89.1MPa with the aid of the maximum strain criterion.

(4) In the winding process the optimized parameters ensure the fiber stability and full

coverage on the liner, which is consistent with the simulation results. The burst pressure is
85MPa by the hydrostatic test and compared with the calculated result; the error between the

two methods is 4.82%, indicating that the experimental result is in good agreement with the

one of simulations.

Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.

51875159) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No.

JZ2018HGTB0255).

Data Availability

The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time as

the data also forms part of an ongoing study.

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 List of Figures

Fig.1. Non-geodesic trajectories on a surface of revolution: (a) a general surface of revolution

and (b) relation among the vectors at the point P.

Fig.2. Geometry of an ellipsoidal dome head.

Fig.3. Schematic of two-dimensional geometry of fiber trajectories on the cylindrical section.

Fig.4. Winding angles versus slippage coefficients for various polar opening radii.

Fig.5. Flow chart of the optimal design procedure for determining the winding parameters.

Fig.6. Non-geodesic patterns for the 1st, the 5th, and the final wound circuit, respectively: (a)

the dome head and (b) the entire cylinder.

Fig.7. Non-geodesic patterns for various roving bandwidths: (a) double-roving bandwidth and

(b) triple-roving bandwidth.

Fig.8. Non-geodesic patterns for various numbers of the tangent points.

Fig.9. Schematic of rovings at the area within a bandwidth to the pole.

Fig.10. Schematic of rovings at the area beyond a bandwidth to the pole.

Fig.11. Manufacture-dictated winding parameters: (a) thickness distribution of the composite

overwrap along the shell meridian and (b) winding angle distribution along the shell meridian.

Fig.12. Geometry of the aluminum liner.

Fig.13. Stress-strain relation of the aluminum liner.

Fig.14. Finite element model: (a) the aluminum liner and (b) the composite overwrap.

Fig.15. Filament winding processes: (a) helical winding; (b) hoop winding and (c) finished

product.
Fig.16. Hydrostatic test for (a) the cylinder under working pressure and (b) failure mode of

the cylinder after bursting.

Fig.17. Stress distributions of the composite overwrap: (a) hoop layers and (b) helical layers.

Fig.18. Finite element analysis of the aluminum liner: (a) von Mises stress distribution and (b)

PEEQ distribution.

Fig.19. The maximum strain of the hoop layers under various internal pressures.

Fig.20. Strain distributions of hoop layers under burst pressure of 89.1MPa.