Winding pattern design for composite pressure vessels based on fiber overlap and stacking optimization

Abstract

The precision of filament winding pattern design, crucial for composite pressure vessels, directly impacts structural performance and product quality. Conventional design methodologies often neglect critical factors such as fiber width, the uniformity of the distribution across layers, and the deviation of the winding trajectory resulting from the dynamic evolution of the mandrel outline. The equation of the winding trajectory of a non-geodesic line is utilised to construct a table of linear parameters, from which the fiber overlap ratio and the tangent point overlap ratio are calculated. The Pareto optimisation method is then employed to balance the ranking of the two. In the case of the ellipsoidal dome structure, the long and short semi-axes are updated using a cubic spline thickness algorithm that takes into account fiber stacking effect. A dynamic core model updating mechanism that first partitions and then layers is proposed, and a core model size updating method with alternating spiral and circumferential winding is given to achieve layer by layer winding parameter optimization. The findings of the simulation and calculation experiments indicate that the global optimal linear scheme is capable of sustaining the overlap rate and the average value of the tangent overlap rate at a minimal level of 1.47% and 0.21%, respectively. This method circumvents the uneven stress caused by excessive or insufficient fiber overlap in the traditional process, thereby providing a theoretical foundation for the optimization of process parameters for multi-layer composite winding.