700 bar type IV high pressure hydrogen storage vessel burst – Simulation and experimental validation

•A damage model is used to predict the burst pressure and mode of hydrogen tank.•Macroscopic response (burst pressure, deformation) is accurately simulated.•Simulated local damage phenomena explain possible leakage.

The damage model described in [12] is used to predict the burst pressure and the burst mode of type IV hyperbaric tanks for hydrogen storage. The shape of the composite shell (as well as the fibre orientation at each point) ensuring the mechanical strength comes from the plug-in Wound Composite Modeler. The FE simulations are found not only to predict the global behaviour of the vessel (radial and axial displacement when undergoing an increasing inner pressure, burst pressure value), but also the damage modes at the ply scale. Thus, they are capable of explaining phenomena such as the non linearity due to the presence of a gap between the liner and the composite shell or the possible leaks due to delamination in the dome and providing the strain level in each composite layer.