Development of Highly Damage Tolerant Carbon Composite Pressure Vessels for Hydraulic and Pneumatic Service

Achieving high-rate manufacturing of carbon fiber composite pressure vessels for very high pressure service is critical to the industry.  Filament winding has been the only viable option to date, however the overall cycle times for vessel production are extremely long, typically measured in hours.  In the course of developing a new methodology for pressure vessel manufacturing, critical attention was paid to developing materials and processes that would address manufacturing rate, damage tolerance, repeatability, and predictability of failure (both mode and location.)  The approach taken involves combining braided dry fabric preforms using a resin transfer molding process in a highly controlled environment.  The presentation will describe the process, methodology, and results.  It will include demonstration of stages to achieve very rapid process cycle times (approximately 15 times faster than filament winding for a comparable tank) as well as repeatability of burst failures modes and pressures.  Extension of these technologies into other advanced composite arenas will be discussed.