PRESSUREVESSELDESIGNUSINGCOMPOSITEMATERIALS.docVIP

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Rutgers University Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 PRESSURE VESSEL DESIGN USING COMPOSITE MATERIALS GROUP 2 Graig Fergusson David Pons Ronnie Nomeir Danielle Stephens Russell Scola Index Index . . . . . . . . . 2 Introduction . . . . . . . . 3 Geometry and Design Constraints . . . . 6 Composite Material Design . . . . . 8 Preliminary Designs . . . . . . 13 Final Design . . . . . . . . 14 Materials . . . . . . . . . 15 Dimensions . . . . . . . . 18 Construction Procedure . . . . . . . 19 Design Changes . . . . . . . . 21 Testing . . . . . . . . . 24 Original Design Goal . . . . . . . 26 Future Plans . . . . . . . . 27 Introduction Composite materials are widely used in industry and engineering processes today due to their many applications and advantages. A composite material is defined as a combination of two or more materials consisting of different properties. This union essentially creates a new material with properties that are unique from the beginning components. Although they are joined together, a visible separation between the individual materials is still present. The material utilized for this design project is carbon fibers in an epoxy matrix. It will be implemented using lamina sheets of the material. When dealing with composites, the term “matrix” is used to describe the material that surrounds and binds together clusters of the stronger material which, in this case, is the epoxy. The carbon fiber is known as the “reinforcement” material. When examined separately, carbon fiber and epoxy are quite different materials when their individual properties are viewed. The carbon fiber is made out of long, thin sheets of carbon. It is a chemically inert rigid material that is difficult to stretch and compress. On the other hand, epoxy is a thermosetting plastic, or resin, that is liquid when prepared but hardens and becomes rigid (i.e., it cures) when is heat