Comparative study of tubular composite structure subjected to internal pressure loading: Analytical and numerical investigation

The purpose of this paper is to study the mechanical behaviour of a multi-layered composite tubular structure with various orientations subjected to internal hydrostatic pressure. The first part of this paper is devoted to studying stress analysis using the analytical approach. The 3 D analysis of the composite pipe originally made with carbon/epoxy is studied and compared with a pipe made of E-glass/epoxy; each layer is examined with five orientations. The hoop, axial, longitudinal, transversal, and shear stresses are obtained for each layer of the composite pipe simultaneously. The hybrid composite pipe is done to take advantage of the properties of each fiber and the studied hybridisation. `To validate some cases of the presented results, a numerical model is developed in ANSYS workbench software; this particular model is characterized by very close to the theoretical results. Throughout the investigation, it is observed that the behaviour of composite carbon/epoxy is the most resistant compared to glass/epoxy, and the results obtained in the case of hybrid shows that the variability of the stacking sequences generates the variation of the behaviour on composite hybrid pipe. It can be increased the design material utilisation and working pressure level by winding angle variation or hybridized between stacking sequences. The ability of this new 3 D model to simulate the stress evolution in the full-scale composite tubular structure under internal pressure events were demonstrated.

Automated summary

The study investigates the mechanical behavior of a multi-layered composite tubular structure subjected to internal hydrostatic pressure, comparing different fiber orientations and materials. The results showed that carbon/epoxy composite is more resistant than glass/epoxy, and the stacking sequences variation affects the behavior of the hybrid pipe. The ability of the new 3D model to simulate stress evolution under internal pressure events was demonstrated.