Integral design and simulation of composite toroidal hydrogen storage tanks

This paper outlines an integral design methodology for filament-wound toroidal storage tanks for gaseous hydrogen, with emphasis on the determination of optimal fiber trajectories and suitable winding patterns. The differential equations governing fiber trajectories on a torus are derived based on the differential geometry and the fiber slippage law. An integrated procedure combining the structural optimization and the windability of toroidal pressure vessels for gaseous hydrogen is proposed. The transmission ratio and the kinematic solutions of the novel winder are determined. The simulations of geodesic and non-geodesic trajectories are performed. The results show that the present method provides a straightforward tool able to fill the gap between “design for structures” and “design for patterns”. The resulting fiber trajectories are suitable to satisfy various winding patterns due to their geometric flexibilities and comply with the fiber stability and windability. In this sense, the solution may be regarded as optimal since it practically eliminates excess windings and guarantees minimum number of required wound circuits and maximum utilization of the fiber strength.