Numerical Modeling of Kevlar/Jute Fiber and Hybrid Composite Pressure Vessels

Abstract

In this study, nine composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) models (type IV) have been developed to analyze their burst pressure performance using the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) from experiment and the von Mises stress profile from finite element ABAQUS simulation. The four-layer jute-reinforced PV shows almost five times lower burst pressure than Kevlar-based PV, indicating the inherent vulnerability of using pure jute. However, for the hybrid jute/Kevlar alternate combination, JKJK shows strength improvement over a jute PV by almost two times. Other jute hybrids with glass and aluminum foil show very comparable performance when compared to jute PV. Both yarn and braided-type jute fiber exhibit similar operating conditions, indicating that the preparation type of jute fiber is invariant to pressure performance. However, COPVs woven with 90° cross-oriented jute fibers are found to have the most degraded strength, highlighting that fiber orientation remains an important optimization factor in designing PVs with hybrid composite wraps.

Keywords

• Composites
• Pressure vessels
• von Mises theory
• ASSY theory
• ABAQUS