Clamp-Ring Pressure Vessel Structure for Space-Efficient Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pressure vessels for hydrogen vehicles face challenges in minimizing size to improve spatial utilization and design freedom due to their cylindrical shape, leading to dead zones and increased use of expensive carbon fiber composite material, which affects structural rigidity and stability.
Innovation Solution
The pressure vessel design includes a barrel part with square cross-section and nozzle members at opposite ends, locked by clamp rings outside the barrel, allowing for reduced diameter and eliminating dome parts, distributing stress evenly and minimizing carbon fiber use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a cylindrical pressure vessel with dome parts is used, then structural integrity is maintained, but spatial utilization deteriorates and dead zones are created between adjacent vessels
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure vessel is divided into a barrel part with square cross-section and separate nozzle members, eliminating the integrated dome structure. This segmentation allows the vessel to fit more efficiently in available space while maintaining structural integrity through the clamp ring locking mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure vessel transitions from a traditional cylindrical shape to a square cross-section barrel part. This dimensional change eliminates dead zones between adjacent vessels and improves spatial utilization in the platform shared with electric vehicles.
2Strength
If carbon fiber composite material is used to ensure structural rigidity, then strength is improved, but manufacturing cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp rings are positioned at specific locations where structural reinforcement is most needed, rather than uniformly distributing carbon fiber material throughout the entire vessel. This localized approach maintains structural rigidity while minimizing the total amount of expensive carbon fiber composite material required.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure vessel uses a hybrid structure combining a metal or plastic barrel part with carbon fiber composite clamp rings. This composite material approach allows the expensive carbon fiber to be used only where structurally necessary, reducing overall manufacturing cost while maintaining strength.
3Volume of moving object
If the diameter of the pressure vessel is reduced to improve spatial utilization, then volume is improved, but the slenderness ratio deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure vessel adopts a square cross-section barrel part instead of a circular cross-section, allowing the diameter to be reduced while maintaining adequate structural proportions. The square geometry provides better space utilization without compromising the slenderness ratio.
4Volume of moving object
If dome parts are eliminated in favor of a square barrel design, then spatial utilization is improved, but stress distribution may become uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp rings act as intermediary structural elements that distribute and manage stress in the square barrel design. These reinforced components compensate for the lack of dome geometry, ensuring even stress distribution while maintaining the space-efficient square cross-section.
Data Source
AI summary
A pressure vessel includes: a barrel part disposed in a predefined square area and having a diameter corresponding to a length of one side of the square area; a first nozzle member disposed at one end of the barrel part; a second nozzle member disposed at an opposite end of the barrel part; and clamp rings disposed in the square area, positioned outside the barrel part, and configured to lock the first and second nozzle members to the barrel part, thereby improving spatial utilization and a degree of design freedom.