Determination of lifetime probabilities of carbon fibre composite plates and pressure vessels for hydrogen storage

It is shown that an analogy can be made between the failure of unidirectional carbon fibre reinforced epoxy plates and filament wound carbon fibre composite pressure vessels and that their strengths and failure probabilities can be determined. Fibres in filament wound composite structures are placed on geodesic paths around the mandrel, which becomes the liner; so that when the structure is pressurised the fibres are only subjected to tensile forces, as in a unidirectional composite. Multiscale modelling reveals that composite failure is controlled by fibre breakage and that clustering of fibre breaks determines ultimate reliability of the structure. Time dependent relaxation of the matrix leads to delayed failure of the elastic fibres. A statistical study, using the stochastic properties of the fibres, determines the range of lifetimes which will be obtained in a given class of pressure vessel, leading to an evaluation of failure probabilities as a function of internal pressures. In this way the definition of safety factors, based on an understanding of the physical processes governing damage accumulation, becomes possible.