Low-speed impact damage in filament-wound CFRP composite pressure vessels

Quasi-static and impact tests were conducted on filament-wound carbon fiber composite pressure vessels to study factors that affect burst pressure. Observed damage included fiber microbuckling, matrix cracking, and delamination. Fiber microbuckling of the outer surface layer near the impact point was the main factor that reduced the burst pressure of the vessels. This type of damage was visually detectable on the surface. For similar levels of missile kinetic energy, the impact damage to filament-wound composite pressure vessels depends on size and shape of the colliding body in the contact area. Burst pressure for a damaged vessel decreases with the ratio of axial length of damaged fibers 1, to vessel wall thickness h, up to a ratio 1/h = 3; beyond this length of damaged section the burst pressure was independent of length of damage. Strain measurements near the region of lending showed that damage related to fiber microbuckling is sensitive to strain rate. AT locations where impact damage was predominately due to fiber microbuckling, the failure strain was about six times the strain for microbuckling during quasi-static loading.