Evaluation of structural integrity of Type-III hydrogen pressure vessel under low-velocity car-to-car collision using finite element analysis

This study aims to estimate the structural integrity of a Type-III pressure vessel made of an aluminum liner and carbon/epoxy composite layers under low-velocity impact by using finite element analysis. For the impact analysis of the hydrogen pressure vessel, a moving deformable barrier (MDB) was modeled based on the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) regulations for rear-end collisions. For precise analysis and enhancement of the convergence of the analysis, element deletion associated with the Johnson–Cook model for damage evolution was used and a user’s subroutine for material failure of composites (Hashin criterion) was developed. Low-velocity collisions (10 km/h, 20 km/h, 30 km/h, and 40 km/h) were considered, and as a result, the composite failures and their failure modes were quantitatively estimated. Through this analysis, the reusability of pressure vessels after a low-velocity collision can be determined.