Investigation of Burst Pressure on Carbon / Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Metal Tube for High Pressure Applications

The objective of the work was to investigate the effect of burst pressure on fiber metal laminate (FML) cylindrical structures using high pressure test rig with acoustic gauge. Glass fiber / carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite was wound on aluminum (Al) tubular structure at ±55° orientation using filament winding machine. The developed fiber metal cylindrical specimen was subjected to burst pressure using specially designed hydraulic pump with online monitoring acoustic emission (AE) to identify the initialization of crack on the surface of the cylinder. The results of burst pressure with respect to time showed four types of behaviour viz, elastic, elasto-plastic, peak and failure, irrespective of the type of fiber and thickness of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP). The carbon fiber based metal cylinders showed higher pressure absorption capacity than the glass fiber based cylinders. The initiation of crack, propagation of crack and surface burst were investigated using photographs, which were captured during testing.