Design and Finite Element Analysis of FRP LPG Cylinder

 Inner-layer/liner = Plastic; type HDPE-Blow  Fully Wrapped Fibre-Reinforced Composite Gas

Mouldable Grade. Cylinder with non-load sharing metal liners or
 Outer-Liner = E- Glass fiber; Strands/ filaments. non-metallic liners: ISO 11119-3.
 Coverings (Upper, Middle and Lower) = Plastics; The requirements for certificate of manufacture
type HDPE-Injection Mouldable Grade. shall be as specified in the appropriate manufacturing
 Valve-Coupling = Three types of material namely; standards (i.e. SANS 10019 & EN 12257).
HDPE-Injection Mouldable Grade (Coupling- All LPG cylinders are portable gas containers and
Case), Brass (Coupling-Insert) and Copper can be regarded as pressure vessels. In any pressure
(Coupling- Ring) vessel, the contents can be regarded as subject to
Figure 3 shows a blown up view of the various change in phase frequently or oftenly (from liquid to
components of the proposed design. The outer-layer gas or vice versa). LPG gas is heavier than air, and it
will be wound around the inner-layer as strands of can cause pockets of oxygen-depleted atmosphere in
filaments mixed with vinyl-ester resin. Vinyl-ester low-lying areas. However, it has been proven
resin is ideally suited for being semi-transparent and scientifically that LPG does not pose an ecological
having the ability to prevent UV rays. hazard, unless the gas/air mixture is ignited.

IV. FINITE ELEMENT MODELING AND

Valve Upper Covering ANALYSIS

Valve Coupling The properties of E-glass fiber and vinyl-ester resin

used for the estimation of composite properties are
given in Table 1.
Outer TABLE I. PROPERTIES OF E-GLASS FIBRE AND VINYL-ESTER
POLYMER.
layer Middle
Covering Properties E-Glass Cured
continuous Vinyl
fiber Ester
Inner layer E (Elastic modulus) 72 GPa 3.4
GPa
Peep
Lower Covering G (Shear modulus) 29.51 GPa 1.25
window
GPa
Peep window Insert σ (Tensile strength) 345 MPa 338
Figure 3. Exploed view of the designed FRP LPG cylinder. MPa
ρ (Density) 2580 kg/cm3 1120
The following manufacturing process is proposed for kg/cm3
the different components: V(volume fraction) 60% 40%
 HDPE liner will be blow moulded.
 Fiber glass layer will be filament wound and oven The advantages of E-Glass Fibre include -
cured.  Stiffness
 Test process pneumatic pressure test (3 MPa) and  Less Weight
tightness test (1.8 MPa with helium).  Fatigue and Corrosion resistance
 HDPE casing will be injection moulded and  Geometric flexibility
mechanically joined.  Translucency
The relevant standards to be adhered to include Yield Strength = 48.3 MPa of E-glass fiber. Based
[4,5]: on Rule of Mixtures (RoM) concept the worked-out
 SANS 10019:2008 properties of E-glass/vinyl-ester composite are given
 SANS 1825 in Table 2.
 EN 12245 TABLE II. PROPERTIES OF E-GLASS FIBRE/VINYL-ESTER
COMPOSITES.
 ISO 11119-3
All containers shall be designed and manufactured Properties Values Units
in accordance with the requirements of the Pressure E1 44.56 GPa
Equipment regulations (PER) of the occupational E2 9.54 GPa
health and safety act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993), in
conjunction with the appropriate of the standards G12=G13 5.86 GPa
listed below: G23 5.99 GPa
 Fully Wrapped Composite Cylinders up to 450 L: Longitudinal-Transverse
EN 12245 (these containers shall have a lining as Tensile strength 158.4 MPa
described in EN 12245 when manufactured for σ12= σ13
use in South Africa.) Transverse Tensile strength 162.1 MPa

International Journal of Instrumentation, Control and Automation (IJICA) ISSN: 2231-1890, Vol-1 Iss-3,4, 2012
123
 Design and Finite Element Analysis of FRP LPG Cylinder

σ23 less than 13 bars and the testing was done at 30 bars
Shear strength in the present study. Hence, a factor of safety in the
79.2 MPa range of 2.15-9.1 was established. When product
τ
failure could result in serious injury or loss of life,
ν12=ν21 0.28
exhaustive testing and higher safety factors have to be
employed.
The entire CAD modeling and FEA simulation
were carried out using the commercial FEA software V. CONCLUSIONS
Abaqus [6]. Composite laminate of thickness = 2mm
was modeled using 10 plies in the Composite Layup Three design concepts were generated and the best
module of Abaqus keeping the orientation alternately concept was finally selected using a multi-criteria
at 45°/-45° for each layer. The Engineering Constants comprising of functionality, ergonomics,
option was invoked for assignment of composite convenience, ease of manufacturing, cost etc.
material properties. Burst Pressure is the designated satisfying the customer and design needs. The FEA
pressure acting on the Inner Layer/Liner as per the results showed that the material being used; HDPE-
design standards (EN12245:2002) for testing the Liner of 1.5 mm thickness and the wrapping
prototypes of the composite LPG cylinder [4]. The composite layer of 2 mm thickness are suitable for
value assigned to the burst pressure = 3 MPa (30 bar) the product to behave safe. The results show that the
and is applied as a uniform pressure load. 3-d linear maximum burst pressure the chosen thicknesses could
hexahedral (brick) elements (total number 780) were sustain is about 28 MPa which is well above the
chosen for the FEA meshing. Attempts were also subjected pressures. With the introduction of
made to use the third party addon module of Filament composite cylinders, dust and rain water will become
Winding within Abaqus. The same where a smaller concern. The FRP LPG cylinder is believed
unsuccessful owing to version compatibility issues. to be superior to the existing steel and aluminium
Fig. 4 shows the Von-mises stress contour plot of cylinders in terms of weight, cost, ergonomics (semi-
the composite LPG cylinder after Static FEM transparent cylinder wall), safety, environmental
analysis. compatibility and user friendliness. Further, studies
on design analysis, optimization and fabrication of a
test prototype are in progress.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

M.S. acknowledges the financial assistance

provided by the University of Johannesburg Research
Committee for carrying out this research project.

REFERENCES

[1] www.afrox.com, Afrox Material Safety Data Sheet, 2001,

Liquified Petroleum Gas & Propanes, Last accessed 12th
August 2012.
[2] K. K. Chawla. Composite Materials (Science and
Engineering), 2nd edition, Wiley, 2004.
[3] J. I. Rotheiser, Design of Plastic Products, McGraw-Hill,
2002.
[4] Fully Wrapped Composite Cylinder-Design Standards-
Figure 4. Von-mises stress contour plot. EN:12245
[5] Hoop Wrapped Composite Cylinder-Design Standards-
EN:12257
The results show no signs of immediate failure.
[6] Abaqus Version 6.10 – User’s Manual .
The maximum operating LPG-cylinder pressure is

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International Journal of Instrumentation, Control and Automation (IJICA) ISSN: 2231-1890, Vol-1 Iss-3,4, 2012
124