International Technology and Innovation Conference 2006

MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF CARBON FIBER WOUND

HIGH PRESSURE HYDROGEN STORAGE VESSEL AND
PRESTRESS CONTROL IN MANUFACTURING PROCESS
ZHENG C.X., MENG J., LEI S.H.

Institute of Chemical Process Machinery, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

hydrogen storage techniques. Therefore most fuel cell

Keywords: Fiber wound, high pressure hydrogen storage, powered vehicles manufactured by many car companies
mechanical analysis, prestress. adopt the method of high pressure hydrogen storage.
The gravimetric hydrogen density is an important parameter
Abstract for mobile hydrogen storage. The high pressure and

This paper presents a mechanical analysis method of carbon lightweight hydrogen storage vessels have been being

fiber wound aluminum lined high pressure hydrogen developed. The carbon fiber wound aluminum lined

storage vessel. Based on simplifying the carbon fiber hydrogen storage vessel is on the developing stage of

wound layer on the cylinder, two submodels are created. hydrogen storage vessel. It consists of aluminum liner and

The stress formulas of carbon fiber wound layer on the carbon fiber resin composite (CFRC) that winds the liner.

cylinder are obtained by the submodels and the basic The aluminum's mechanical property is different from

principle of elastic mechanics. In manufacturing process, CFRC's, which the aluminum is isotropic while the CFRC

the tensile force of fiber will be controlled in order to get is anisotropic. The mechanical property of carbon fiber

prestresses in the aluminum liner. The prestress can lower wound aluminum lined vessel is different from the vessel

the stress of aluminum liner under operating pressure and made of metal. Many explosive experiments of carbon fiber

reduce the probability of stress corrosion accordingly. It can wound aluminum lined vessel tum out to be on the cylinder.

also improve the fatigue life. Therefore the stress formula on the cylinder of this type of
vessels must be obtained. It is also the design criterion of
1 Introduction the carbon fiber wound aluminum lined vessel.

As the development of society, the fossil fuels can't afford 2 Structure of vessel
the requirement of high-speed economic development. The
new energy resources must be developed. The hydrogen The cross section of carbon fiber wound aluminum lined

energy is a sort of clean energy. It will be the main energy vessel is shown as Fig.l. The interior structure is aluminum

instead of petroleum at the last period of the era of liner and the exterior structure is carbon fiber resin

petroleum. Fuel cell (FC) and Fuel cell powered vehicle composite which winds on the liner. The two ends of the

(FCV), where the hydrogen is supplied as fuel, are some of cylinder are formed heads such as hemispherical heads or

the technologies suggested to solve such energy problems. elliptical heads. The vessel is subjected to the inner pressure

There are many different hydrogen storage medias. (P). The winding style of CFRC is loop winding combined

High-pressure hydrogen storage technology has the with longitudinal winding and the winding angels are 90

advantages of low cost, easy operating and quick charge and a respectively. The thickness of loop winding layer

and discharge in normal temperature compared with other and longitudinal winding layer are assumed as t(} and t a •

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 Section 1 Advanced Manufacturing Technology

radius and outer radius of liner and the outer radius of

CFRC are considered as a, b and c.
The loop stress (a (J ') and radial stress (a r ') of liner
cylinder are merely relevant to the radius (r). The
longitudinal stress ( a z ') is assumed as uniform stress. The
formulas of loop stress and radial stress of liner are listed
below [3]:

l
ao' = [p( a r _a b )+ ~ (a b _b r Jx [r (b
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
)
2 2
_a 2
) J- 1

a r '= [p( a2b2 +a 2 r2 )_ ~ (a 2b2 _b 2 r2 ) Jx[r 2 (b 2 _a 2

) J-
1

Fig.1: cross section of carbon fiber wound aluminum lined vessel.
3 Mechanical analysis of vessel
3.1 Assumption and model simplifying
Mechanical analysis is on the assumption that [1,2]:
(1) CFRC is transversely isotropic. Macroscopically the
(1)
The CFRC layers are assumed that the loop winding fibers
hardly bear the longitudinal stress and the longitudinal
winding fibers hardly bear the loop stress because the
transverse elastic module is much smaller than axial's.
Therefore, CFRC layer is simplified to two submodels
because of its complex mechanical property and structure:
Submodel 1: The loop CFRC wound liner. The thickness of
loop CFRC is t(J

Submodel 2: The longitudinal CFRC wound liner. The

mechanical property in transverse direction is the same
thickness of longitudinal CFRC is ta
because the fibers are laid uniformly in transverse section.
(2) CFRC is linear elastic. The resin is viscoelastic while The loop stress of submodel 1 and the longitudinal stress of

the fiber is linear elastic and the module of resin is much submodel 2 are equal to those of whole model. The

smaller than fiber, So CFRC is assumed as linear elastic.
(3) CFRC is continuous.
The mechanical analysis carbon fiber wound aluminum
lined vessel is based on the basic principle of elastic
mechanics. The vessel is divided into two components.
Fig.2 (a) is the axis section of aluminum liner with inner
pressure (P) and outer pressure (Po). Fig.2 (b) is the CFRC
with inner pressure (Po). The pressure (Po) is the
international force on the interface between liner and CFRC.
The liner and the
Po
theoretical basis of model simplifying is given below:
The axial elastic module and transverse elastic module of
simple direction CFRC are assumed as Ell and E22 . The
fiber directions of layered configuration are 0° and
90° (orthogonal). Let O( direction be x direction, and Let
90° direction be y direction. The volumetric ratios of x
direction and y direction are assumed as Vx and Vy • It is
obvious that
Vx+ Vy=l
(2)
Consider the CFRC with orthogonal direction fibers, the
elastic module of 0° and 90° direction can be obtained:

(3)

Ey=VyEll+VxE22~ VyE 11 (4)

If the CFRC with orthogonal direction fibers bear a force F in
x direction, which the area of transverse section is A, the
stress in x direction is

F
a=-
x A
(5)

(a) (b) The strain &x is

Fig.2: the model of mechanical analysis.
CFRC are considered as axisymmetric problem. The inner

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 International Technology and Innovation Conference 2006

&
a
=_x ~
F (6)
x Ex AVxEII dw w
&r =-'&0 =- (12)
If the fibers of y direction are removed and only the fibers of dr r
x direction are left, the stress in x direction is Where

a
,= -F- (13)
(7)
x AVx
The strain &x' is The constitutive equations are

,ax' F & = _I_a _ Vl2 a _ VI2 a

& =-=--- (8) (14)
x E'
x
AVE
x 11
0E 0E rE Z
11 22 22

It is obvious that the strain &x and Gx ' are almost the V21 1 V
Gr =--a o
+-a
E r - -22az
E (15)
same. E11 22 22
If the CFRC with orthogonal direction fibers bear a stress
az in z direction, the strain &x and &x' are
G = -5L ao - V22 a +_I_ a (16)
E22 rE22 z
z
E11
(9)
Let az be a constant a zo and let

&
a'
'= _x v
_ _ ---l.L x a
_1_ = A VI2 =B _1_ = C V 22 =D
(10) E22 E22 E22
x E' E z Ell ' ' '
x 22
Therefore
They are also the same.
&0 =AaB-B(ar +az ),
3.2 Mechanical analysis of CFRC [4-7]
dao Bdar
deB _A -
-- - - (17)
The loop stress (ao ) and radial stress (ar ) of CFRC dr dr dr
cylinder are merely relevant to the radius (r). The longitudinal
According to constitutive equations (14) and (15), we can get
stress (az) is also assumed as uniform stress. Take no
account of the gravity and the shear stress, The equilibrium
equation of force about CFRC cylinder is
&r -&0 =(C+B)ar -(A+B)aB+(B-D)az (18)
According to equations (11), (13) and (17), we have
da
a -a =r-_r (11)
o r dr
The geometrical equations are
da
dear +r_r)
A dr da 1 da
B_r =-[(C +B)ar -(A +B)(ar +r-r)+(B-D)azl (19)
dr dr r dr
B-D
It is simplified as a
r
= CI eXIt + C2 e~t + - -a
A-C z (21)

where
r 2 a r n+3rar '+ A-C
A
ar = B-D
A
az (20)

The equation (19) is an Euler equation. The solution is x =-1+ [C x =-1- [C (22)
I ~A' 2 ~A
and
_
a o -ar+r--- } I+x} ) r + C(I
dar -C( 2 +X2 )r +--a
B-D XI X2
(23)
M A-C
z

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 Section 1 Advanced Manufacturing Technology

Let a z =0, because it is assumed that loop winding fibers

(26)
don't bear the longitudinal stress. The boundary conditions
on the internal (r=b) and external (r=e) surface are given by and
a r (b)=Po, a r (e)=O (24)
Therefore a Pr (e Xl r X2
=--..;...0
_ e X2 r X )_
(27)
r e Xl b X2 _ e X2 b Xl
Pr°-
- C1 x b + C2 X b
Xl X2

(25)
{ o= C X eX) + C2 x e X2
1

The solutions are

(28)

3.3 Example

The elastic module of liner is 70Gpa, and the mechanical

property of single direction CFRC layer is
a b =2678.8Mpa, E ll =181Gpa, E22=E33=10.3Gpa,
G 12=7.17Gpa, V 21 =0.28 Here E 1a is the offset-axis stiffness. a is the offset-axis
angle. The offset-axis stiffness can be calculated as below [8]
to =0.0105m, ta =0.006m, a=O.1m, b=0.104m, c=0.1145m, The stiffness matrix of single direction orthoaxis CFRC
1=700mm layer is
The value of Po can be calculated according to the boundary

0]
condition of aluminum liner and equations of deformative
harmony. The boundary conditions and equations of 0'1] [Q11 Q12 &1
deformative harmony are 0'2 = Q12 Q22 0 &2 (33)

1"12 0 0 Q66 r12

r = a = O.l,ar ' = -P = -70MPa
The stiffness matrix of single direction offset-axis CFRC
r =b=0.104,ar '=ar =-Pa (29) layer is
r = b = 0.104'&0' = &0

Here &0' is the hoop strain of aluminum liner and &0 is (34)
the hoop strain of CFRC layer. Due to £0 ' = £0' we can get

~ [(}"e '- v((}"r '+ (}"~)] = _1_ [ 0'0 - v21 (ar + a z )] (30) The stiffness matrix of single direction offset-axis CFRC
E Ell layer can be obtained by transforming the stiffness matrix of
Assuming that the longitudinal strain of aluminum liner is single direction orthoaxis CFRC layer. The matrix of
equal to the longitudinal strain of longitudinal fibers transformation is

(31)

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 International Technology and Innovation Conference 2006

QIl m4 n4 2m 2 n 2 4m 2 n 2
-
Q22 n4 m4 2m 2 n 2 4m 2 n 2 QIl
- 2 2 2 2 4 4 2 2
Q12 m n m n m +n -4m n Q22 (35)
Q66
m n 2 2 2 2
m n -2m n 2 2
(m 2 _n 2 )2 Q12
- mn
3
-mn 3 mn 3 -m 3n 2(mn 3 -m 3 n) Q66
Q16
- mn 3 -m 3n m 3n -mn 3 2(m 3 n-mn 3 )
Q26

offset-axis angle. When a = 14(]

Here the letter m = cos a, n = sin a. a is the
E 1a = QIl cos 14 + Qzz sin 14 + 2QIZ cos 2 14 X sin z 14 + 4Q66 cos 2 14" x sin z 14
4 4 n c n
, n n

=166.42Gpa The hoop stress of hoop winding fibers is

The solution can be given according to the system of
equations (30) and equation (32) 27.6 xl00%=4.4%
633.15
Po =57.8MPa, a z ' = 180.22MPa, a z = 430.64MPa It is obvious that loop winding fibers hardly bear the
When r=b=O.1 04m longitudinal stress and the longitudinal winding fibers hardly
a e =633.15Mpa bear the loop stress. The correctness of model simplifying
and theoretic basis is proved.
When r=c=O.1145m
a e =53 1.3 IMpa
4 Prestress control in manufacturing process
The maximum hoop stress of liner can be calculated by
Lame formulas The aluminum liner is the key component of the vessel. Not
z only does it bear high stress, it also contacts with hydrogen
KZz+-1)
a e =p ( - -Po ( -2K
z -) =253.4Mpa gas. The bad environment will probably lead to stress
K -1 K -1 corrosion. In order to decrease the stress of the liner under
The longitudinal stress of hoop winding fibers can be the operating pressure, the liner is prestressed when it is in
obtained by figuring out the longitudinal stain of manufacturing process. After the manufacturing process is
longitudinal winding fibers. The longitudinal stain of done, the liner has the compressing prestress. The actual
longitudinal winding fibers is stress of liner can be obtained when the compressing
prestress plus the stress calculated under the operating
G
z
=a_2
v
----1!.x a pressure without prestress. The method is as following l9l
E la EI r
The buckling pressure is
6 2.59Et Z
= 430.64xl0 0.28 x(-57.8x1Q6)
166.42xl09 181xl09
Per = rnJ: =-2.76MPa
3
LDo-VDo It
=2.677x 10.
Take 3 as safety factor, the Po is
The longitudinal stress of hoop winding fibers is
P o=-2.76/3=-O.92MPa
E Because
a z =E2 &z +V21 E2 a o +v21 a r =18.lMPa
1
2 Po(l + X )(c rx, + cx, r'" )
Xt

The hoop stress of longitudinal winding fibers can also be a=----~----~

obtained by figuring out the hoop strain of hoop winding () e Xl b X2 _ e X2 b Xl
fibers. The hoop strain of longitudinal winding fibers is Put the Po into the equation and the stress distribution of
1 V fibers at any radius will be obtained. The tensile force
6
()
=- a
E ()
_--l.L a =3.59xIO·3
E r
distribution can also be calculated when the stress multiply
1 1 by the single layer thickness of fibers. If the CFRC layer is
The hoop stress of longitudinal winding fibers is wound according to the tensile force distribution in
E manufacturing process, the pressure between the liner and
a e = E z6 e + vZ1 a r + V Z1 _Z a z =27.6MPa the CFRC layer is Po, and the loop prestress of liner is
E1 z
2PrK
The ratio of the longitudinal stress of hoop winding fibers to a '= _ 0_ _ =-24.4MPa
the longitudinal stress of longitudinal winding fibers is () 2 K -1
18.1 The single layer thickness of fibers is 0.42mm, and the
- - - x 100% =4.2% quantity of winding layers can be obtained as 10.5/0.42=25.
430.64 The tensile force is changed every 2 layers in manufacturing
The ratio of the hoop stress of longitudinal winding fibers to process. The winding tensile forces are given in Table I.

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 Section 1 Advanced Manufacturing Technology

371-377, 2001.
Stress Tensile force [6] M. Xia, H. Takayanagi, K. Kemmochi, "Analysis of
No. r (mm) multi-layered filament-wound composite pipes under
(MPa) (N/mm)
1 104.42 9.97 4.19 internal pressure", Composite Structure, 53, 483-491,
2 105.26 9.78 4.11 2001.
3 106.1 9.60 4.03 [7] P.M. Wild, G.W.Vickers, "Analysis of filament-wound
4 106.94 9.43 3.96 cylindrical shells under combined centrifugal, pressure
5 107.78 9.27 3.90 and axial loading'" Composites: Part A, 28A,
6 108.62 9.13 3.84 47-55,1997.
7 109.46 9.00 3.78 [8] E.L. Lv, "Mechanics Of Composite Materials",
8 110.3 8.89 3.73 Chongqing: Chongqinq University Press, 1992 (In
9 111.14 8.78 3.69 Chinese).
10 111.98 8.68 3.65 [9] C.X. Zheng, "Composite Material Pressure Vessel",
11 112.82 8.60 3.61 Beijing: Chemical Industry Press, 2006(In Chinese).
12 113.66 8.52 3.58
[10] C.X. Zheng, Cao Kun, "Lightweight Filament
13 114.5 8.46 3.55
Table 1: hoop winding tensile force distribution of fibers. Aluminum Liner High Pressure Vessel", Chinese
Patent: 03150968.1.
5 Conclusions
It is important to improve the fatigue life of carbon fiber
wound aluminum lined pressure vessel because it needs to
be charged or discharged many times in its life. Based on
the mechanical analysis of carbon fiber wound aluminum
lined high pressure hydrogen storage vessel, this paper
gives the stress formula of carbon fiber wound layer on the
cylinder. The winding tensile force of fibers can be
calculated easily by the stress formula. When the pressure
vessel is in manufacturing, the liner gets the compressing
prestress through controlling the winding tensile force. The
average stress of the liner decreases up to 10% and it can
improve the fatigue life of liner, while the average stress of
fibers increase 1.6% and it never lost effect on the fatigue
life of fibers. This method can improve the fatigue life of
carbon fiber wound aluminum lined pressure vessel[lO].

References
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Composite Materials", Beijing: China Logistics
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[3] 1.Y. Zheng, Q.W. Dong, Z.F. Sang, "Design of Process
Equipmenf', Beijing: Chemical Industry Press, 2001 (In
Chinese).
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