The analytical and numerical stress analysis of various domes for composite pressure vessels

Abstract

The paper describes analytical and numerical solutions for five selected domes (a spherical shell, a geodesic-isotensoid shell, a shell with zero transversal strain, a shell with zero transversal stress, and a shell with identical strain) for composite pressure vessels manufactured by means of filament (helical) winding. The stresses and strains in the domes were evaluated analytically from known equations with the use of MATLAB script for numerical evaluation and via finite element analysis (FEA) with Abaqus software and results were compared with each other. Two failure criteria, interactive and non-interactive, were chosen for the evaluation of critical areas of the shells. Moreover, the best dome shape for a given material and polar hole/equator ratio was selected for various types of failure, i.e., a loss of tightness/leakage or the failure of the fibers.