Cryogenic Tank Liner Lamination for Thin-Wall Leak Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for manufacturing cryogenic tanks using fiber-reinforced composite materials face issues such as high processing costs, material waste, discontinuous material properties, and unstable quality due to manual application of release members, which can lead to liner breakage and leakage.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the fabrication of a resin liner through slit processing and rotational lamination around a mandrel, followed by automated application of a release member, eliminates mechanical processing and manual application, ensuring continuous material properties and reduced thickness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the liner is made thinner to reduce weight, then the weight of the tank is reduced, but the liner becomes more susceptible to breakage due to tensile stress during cooling
Solution Approach 1:
A release member made of resin is introduced as an intermediary layer between the outer shell and the liner. This release member has a coefficient of linear expansion closer to that of the liner, allowing it to accommodate the shrinkage of the liner during cooling without transmitting excessive tensile stress to the liner, thereby preventing liner breakage while enabling thinner liner design
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material parameter (coefficient of linear expansion) of the intermediate layer between the outer shell and liner. By selecting a release member with appropriate thermal expansion characteristics, the system accommodates differential shrinkage during cooling, resolving the contradiction between liner thickness and breakage resistance
2Ease of manufacture
If mechanical processing or compression molding is used to manufacture the liner, then the liner can be formed, but processing costs and material costs increase due to chipping removal or multiple molds
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces mechanical processing (chipping and molding) with a chemical solution process. The liner is formed by applying a resin solution to the release member, which then cures to form the liner structure. This eliminates the need for mechanical chipping operations and multiple compression molds, significantly reducing material waste and processing costs
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces processing and material costs, stabilizes quality, and minimizes the risk of wrinkles and leakage, contributing to a lighter tank design without the need for multiple molds.
Implementation Method 1
a step of winding the liner resin tape around an outer surface of a mandrel having an outer surface shape corresponding with an inner surface shape of the liner in a state in which tension is applied to the liner resin tape while rotating the mandrel around the axial center of the mandrel
Implementation Method 2
a step of winding the release member resin tape around the outer surface of the liner resin tape in a state in which tension is applied to the release member resin tape while rotating the mandrel in a state in which the liner resin tape is wound around the outer surface of the mandrel around the axial center of the mandrel
Data Source
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AI summary
There is provided a method that can solve various problems in a manufacturing method of the conventional art as a method for manufacturing a cryogenic tank that is for storing a cryogenic fluid and has a structure in which an outer shell made of a fiber-reinforced composite material, a release member made of a resin, and a liner made of a resin are disposed in that order from the outside. In the method for manufacturing a cryogenic tank, the liner is manufactured by a process including A) a step of preparing a liner resin film composed of the resin that forms the liner, B) a step of executing slit processing for the liner resin film to fabricate a liner resin tape, and C) a step of winding the liner resin tape around an outer surface of a mandrel having an outer surface shape corresponding with an inner surface shape of the liner in a state in which tension is applied to the liner resin tape while rotating the mandrel around the axial center thereof.