38949 2016 eng 7474 7484 11 42 article Elsevier Ltd. 1 -- -- -- Gas cylinders made of composite materials receive growing popularity in light-weight applications. Current standards are mostly based on safety determination relying on minimum amounts of endured load cycles and a minimum burst pressure of a small number of specimens. This paper investigates the possibilities of a probabilistic strength assessment for safety improvements as well as cost and weight savings. The probabilistic assessment is based on destructive testing of small sized samples. The influence of sample size on uncertainty of the assessment is analysed. Furthermore, methods for the assessment of in-service ageing (degradation) are discussed and displayed in performance charts. International journal of hydrogen energy 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.06.067 0360-3199 1879-3487 02.06.2017 Georg W. Mair Ben Becker Eric Duffner Herbert Saul André Schoppa eng uncontrolled Cycle strength eng uncontrolled Degradation eng uncontrolled End of life eng uncontrolled Lucky punch area eng uncontrolled Slow burst test eng uncontrolled Statistical assessment Angewandte Physik Verlagsliteratur Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access")