A safe design of composite tanks for liquid hydrogen is one of the strongest challenges in the coming years. This paper describes an approach to characterize the influence of cryogenic temperature on the mechanical properties of a thin-ply carbon/epoxy material manufactured by wet filament winding. The aim is to obtain the properties required for lightweight design of a suitable thin-ply layup for future use as a cylindrical tube in a linerless tank for storage of liquid hydrogen at cryogenic temperature and interior pressure. A methodology is presented for determining the ply properties required as input parameters in analytical models describing the constitutive relationships, strength-based failure criteria, and fracture mechanics for in-situ strength predictions within thin-ply theory. Therefore, tensile and shear behavior, as well as interlaminar toughness of flat wet filament wound laminates have been determined experimentally at room and cryogenic temperature. Additionally, the variation of coefficients of thermal expansion and dynamic mechanical analyses over temperature have been investigated. Since the ply properties are a function of the fiber volume fraction and quality obtained during wet filament winding, an integration of micromechanics is provided on how to adjust properties based on different fiber volume fractions obtained from nominally unidirectional coupon specimens for use in design of real angle-ply cylinders. A methodology is proposed to reach the relevant mechanical properties for design making use of a limited set of experimental properties, based on challenges to test at −253°C (20 K). An outlook on potential improvements regarding mechanical testing at cryogenic temperature is provided.

This paper describes design, manufacture, and testing of a linerless composite vessel for liquid hydrogen, having 0.3 m diameter and 0.9 m length. The vessel consists of a composite cylinder manufactured by wet filament winding of thin-ply composite bands, bonded to titanium end caps produced by additive manufacturing. The aim was to demonstrate the linerless design concept with a thin-ply composite for the cylinder. The investigation is limited to the internal pressure vessel, while real cryogenic tanks also involve an outer vessel containing vacuum for thermal insulation. Thermal stresses dominate during normal operation (4 bar) and the layup was selected for equal hoop strains in the composite cylinder and end caps during filling with liquid hydrogen. Two vessels were tested in 20 cycles, by filling and emptying with liquid nitrogen to 4 bar, without signs of damage or leakage. Subsequently, one vessel was tested until burst at almost 30 bar.

This work presents a novel numerical methodology to model the degradation and failure of composite materials like GFRP submitted to monotonic and high cycle fatigue loads. This is done by using the Serial–Parallel Rule of Mixtures homogenisation technique together with a proper mechanical characterisation of the constituent materials of the composite. This paper also proposes an efficient way of estimating the fatigue properties of each of the material constituents (fibre or matrix) to comply with the experimental results obtained at composite level; this enables to estimate the fatigue strength of any stacking/orientation of fibres with only one mechanical characterisation of the material properties. A comparison of the results obtained analytically and experimentally for GFRP is presented. The results show the applicability and accuracy of the proposed methodology in this field.

A novel intralaminar model has, for the first time, been applied and validated for the rate-dependent failure of multidirectional carbon/epoxy laminates. Quasi-static compressive failure is evaluated by the growth of intralaminar rate-dependent damage combined with the interaction of cohesive zones for interlaminar delamination. A special feature of the intralaminar model is the homogenised ply response, allowing simultaneous damage-degradation of the polymer matrix combined with the fibres. To model the observed quasi-brittle failure response of the plies under finite deformation, we have used a viscoelastic-viscoplastic matrix combined with damage and isotropic hardening behaviour. Elastic transverse isotropy is used to model the fibre reinforcement of the plies. Standard cohesive surfaces are used to model the initiation and propagation of delamination. Numerical simulations using ABAQUS/Explicit are performed to predict the growth and delamination of intralaminar damage under compression in different laminates with 56 plies of IM7/8552 carbon/epoxy. Predictions of stress versus strain and damage growth are shown to agree well with experimental results for a range of strain rates and stacking sequences. 

Currently, huge undertakings to develop concepts for fossil free aviation are being made. For instance, hydrogen gas can be used in fuel cells generating electricity for motors or in fossil free combustion engines. To minimize the volume, the hydrogen must be stored in liquid form in tanks at very low temperature (-253°C). These tanks should preferably have as low weight as possible, which may be obtained by using carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites. However, pressure and temperature changes during fueling can cause microcracks between the fibers, which then causes gas leakage. By using thin composite plies of different orientations, the formation of microcracks can be suppressed. However, the damage development due to cryogenic cycling and its effect on long term performance is not well understood. This work aims at reducing this knowledge gap by characterizing thin ply composites under cryogenic thermo-mechanical fatigue. In this work, the materials (carbon fiber and matrix) were selected and cross ply [90/0]4s composite laminates were manufactured using wet filament winding. The laminates were inspected for damage, and samples prepared for testing. Quasi-static, mechanical fatigue and thermal fatigue tests were performed. Only a few matrix cracks were observed at a very high load and high number of cycles. Those cracks were initiated but not propagated along the width of the specimens. The results show that they have potential for being used in ultralight tanks for liquid hydrogen. 

Laminates with ultra-thin plies is a promising new development for polymeric composite materials expected to provide superior resistance to intralaminar crack propagation. The ply thickness effect on the crack initiation stress that according to some theoretical studies on fiber/matrix debonding does not depend on the ply thickness was investigated. Ultra-thin ply carbon fiber/epoxy cross-ply laminates subjected to tensile loading at room, –50, and –150°C temperatures relevant for cryogenic fuel storage, aeronautical, and aerospace applications were studied. The stochastic nature of the crack initiation stress in the 90°-plies was analyzed using Weibull strength distribution. The results obtained show delayed transverse crack initiation only in the thinnest plies with a clear trend that the scale parameter is much larger. This thickness effect on initiation is different than that for crack propagation which is observable in much larger ply thickness range. Regarding crack propagation, it was found that in most cases even at very high applied strain levels (1.5%) only a few transverse cracks have propagated from the specimen edges to its middle. 

Strain-rate effects in a unidirectional non-crimp fabric carbon/epoxy composite are addressed. To allow for kink-band formation including strain-rate effects and damage in such composites, the paper advances a recent model focused on compression loading at small off-axis angles. The model is based on computational homogenization with a subscale represented by matrix and fibre constituents at finite deformation. The fibre constituent is assumed to be elastic transversely isotropic and the matrix is viscoelastic–viscoplastic with damage degradation. Novel model improvements of special importance to small off-axis loading relate to the isostress formulation of the homogenized response in transverse shear. In this context, an enhanced homogenized elastic response is proposed based on Halpin–Tsai corrections to account for the nonuniform stress distribution on the microscale. The model captures the strongly rate sensitive kink-band formation due to localized matrix shearing and fibre rotation, confirming the experimentally observed increase in compressive strength for high strain rates. © 2022 The Author(s)

This article addresses the micromechanically motivated, quasistatic to dynamic, failure response of fibre reinforced unidirectional composites at finite deformation. The model draws from computational homogenization, with a subscale represented by matrix and fibre constituents. Undamaged matrix response assumes isotropic viscoelasticity–viscoplasticity, whereas the fibre is transversely isotropic hyperelastic. Major novelties involve damage degradation of the matrix response, due to shear in compression based on a rate dependent damage evolution model, and the large deformation homogenization approach. The homogenized quasi-brittle damage induced failure is described by elastically stored isochoric energy and plastic work of the undamaged polymer, driving the evolution of damage. The developed model is implemented in ABAQUS/Explicit. Finite element validation is carried out for a set of off-axis experimental compression tests in the literature. Considering the unidirectional carbon–epoxy (IM7/8552) composite at different strain rates, it appears that the homogenized damage degraded response can represent the expected ductile failure of the composite at compressive loading with different off-axes. Favourable comparisons are made for the strain and fibre rotation distribution involving localized shear and fibre kinking. © 2021 The Authors

This article addresses dynamic behaviour of fibre reinforced polymer composites in terms of a transversely isotropic viscoelastic-viscoplastic constitutive model established at the unidirectional ply level. The model captures the prelocalized response of the ply in terms of rate dependent elasticity and strength without damage. A major novelty is that the model draws from computational homogenization, with matrix and fibre materials as subscale constituents for a representative volume element of the ply. The micromechanics of the strain rate dependent polymer matrix is represented by an isotropic pressure sensitive viscoelastic-viscoplastic prototype model. For the fibre material, transverse elasticity is assumed. The constituents are homogenized via the fluctuating strain of the subscale, where a simple ansatz is applied to allow for constant stress in the plane transverse to the fibre orientation. Despite the relatively simple modelling assumptions for the constituents, the homogenized model compares favourably to experimental data for an epoxy/carbon fibre based composite, subjected to a variety of challenging uniaxial off-axis tests. The model response clearly reflects observed strain rate dependencies under both tensile and compressive loadings. 

In Sweden there is a lack of knowledge on the expected service life of installed CIPP-liners and a general aim to request CIPP-liners with a 100-year lifespan. In cooperation with Swedish water utilities a national project has been launched for condition monitoring of used CIPP-liners. A large number of CIPP-liners installed in sewage pipes will be excavated and analyzed in order to evaluate material degradation and estimating remaining service life. The CIPP-liners are all between 5-35 years old. The material performance of the CIPP-liners are either compared with the reference data provided from the installation, or in some case compared to pieces of corresponding CIPP-liners that have been kept in a storage. These pieces becomes especially valuable when looking at possible changes in mechanical properties that may have occurred during the time in use. The materials will be assessed by e.g. bending modulus to investigate material integrity and e.g. FT-IR for chemical stability in the environment of the sewage system. In total the results will give a valuable tool in assessing the expected lifetime of the installed CIPP-liners. The knowledge acquired will help Swedish water utilities to predict service life of installed CIPP-liners and to set sufficient quality demands on new installations for pipe renovation. At an initial stage two excavated CIPP-liners that have been in use for 12 and 16 years have been analyzed and compared with reference data from the time of installation.