Optimum design of dome contour for filament-wound composite pressure vessels based on a shape factor

Filament-wound composite pressure vessels are an important type of high-pressure container that is widely applied in the commercial and aerospace industries. This study investigates the optimum design of dome contours for filament-wound composite pressure vessels, subjected to geometrical limitations, winding condition, and the Tsai-Wu failure criterion and maximizing shape factor, the feasible direction method being employed. An actual design example, presented by Fukunaga et al. [19], is adopted to study the optimum dome contour using the present method. Results reveal that the dome contours using the present method, Fukunaga et al.'s method and the netting method can be approximated using elliptic curves, and that the depth is the major parameter for optimizing the design of dome contour, and the dome, designed using the present method has stronger structure and greater internal volume than those designed using other approaches. Results reveal that the present method is usable for the optimum design of dome contours for filament-wound composite pressure vessels. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.