Filament-Wound Pressure Vessel With Thin Lap Ends for Even Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pressure vessels with reinforcing layers have uneven thickness and strength due to lap portions being twice as thick as non-lapped portions, leading to material inefficiencies and potential structural weaknesses.
Innovation Solution
A pressure vessel design where the reinforcing layer is formed by winding bands with superposed ends, where at least one end of the adjacent bands in the lap portion is made thinner than other portions, ensuring even thickness and strength across the layer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If bands are wound around the liner with adjacent bands superposed to form lap portions, then the reinforcing layer achieves continuous coverage without gaps, but the thickness at lap portions becomes twice that of non-lapped portions, resulting in uneven thickness and strength distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the end portions of adjacent bands thinner than the middle portions. Specifically, the end portions are formed with a thickness of 0.5 to 1.5 mm while the middle portions maintain a thickness of 2 to 3 mm. This local variation in thickness ensures that when bands are superposed to form lap portions, the overall thickness remains substantially uniform across the entire reinforcing layer, thereby resolving the contradiction between achieving continuous coverage and maintaining uniform thickness.
2Reliability
If bands are wound with superposed ends to prevent gaps, then coverage continuity is improved, but material usage increases due to doubled thickness at lap portions, leading to increased weight and material costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reduces the weight of the pressure vessel by applying local quality principle - the end portions of bands are made thinner (0.5 to 1.5 mm) compared to middle portions (2 to 3 mm). This allows lap portions to have reduced material volume while still maintaining continuous coverage, thereby decreasing the overall weight of the reinforcing layer without compromising coverage continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of band thickness along its length, creating a gradient from thicker middle portions to thinner end portions. This parameter variation optimizes material distribution, reducing excess material at lap portions where bands overlap, thereby reducing the total weight of the pressure vessel while maintaining structural integrity.
3Reliability
If bands are wound with superposed ends to ensure continuous coverage, then gap prevention is achieved, but strength distribution becomes uneven with lap portions having approximately doubled strength compared to non-lapped portions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the thickness of band end portions to compensate for the superposition effect. The thinner end portions (0.5 to 1.5 mm) are specifically designed to offset the doubled thickness that would normally occur at lap portions, thereby achieving substantially uniform strength distribution across the reinforcing layer while maintaining continuous coverage without gaps.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional winding with full-thickness bands is used, then manufacturing process is simple, but voids and stress concentration occur at lap portions due to uneven thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains the simplicity of the winding process while improving structural integrity by incorporating local quality variations in band thickness. The thinner end portions are formed during the same winding process using conventional equipment, eliminating the need for complex post-processing or additional manufacturing steps. This approach prevents voids and stress concentration at lap portions while keeping the manufacturing process relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are a pressure vessel and a method for winding a filament that allow a reinforcing layer to have an even thickness. The pressure vessel includes: a liner (2) having a hollow portion; and a reinforcing layer (4) that covers the circumference of the liner (2). The reinforcing layer (4) is formed by binding bands (11) composed of reinforced fibers around the liner (2) so as to be layered, a lap portion (21, 22) is formed with ends of the adjacent bands (11, 11) superposed one on another in each layer of the reinforcing layer (4); and at least one end of the adjacent bands (11, 11) in the lap portion (21, 22) is formed thinner than any other portion of the band (11).