There is evidence that composite materials degrade under static loads. Consequently there is no way to design composite gas cylinders for unlimited service life. Yet this fact is not reflected by design standards for composite receptacles approved for the transport of dangerous goods or for stationary application. Unnecessary cost and weight result from this.
Due to the degradation aspects of composites it is necessary to provide appropriate retesting procedures, which allow rejection of used vessels as is common practice for metallic receptacles. The current procedure of hydraulic tests appears to be an expensive procedure with serious doubts regarding its usefulness for composite cylinders.
Consequently, an efficient method is needed, which allows limiting the life time to its safe maximum. It is thus recommended to combine retesting with the assessment of residual life time. Since relevant non-destructive methods are not yet sufficiently matured and standardized enough, a concept featuring destructive tests on composite cylinders parallel to operation should be considered. An alternative concept introduced here, proposes to substitute the hydraulic testing of 100% of a population by a probabilistic evaluation of destructive tests on samples parallel to operation. Intensified pre-fill inspections should be an additional component of such a concept.
Slow burst testing of samples as a method for quantification of composite cylinder degradation
(2014)
The current practise to focus periodic retesting of composite cylinders primarily on the hydraulic pressure test has to be evaluated as critical. The test itself always causes a certain amount of micro damage to the cylinders but does not necessarily deliver sufficient and evaluable information. Thus BAM Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing (Germany) moves the focal point to a new approach for validation of composite cylinders, based on destructive sample tests parallel to operation. Statistical assessment of results of these destructive tests is employed for the estimation of remaining safe service life, based on reliability demands. The estimated service life is also used for the determination of re-test periods of the examined population of composite cylinders.
An essential aspect of this approach is the validation of current residual strength and its prediction at any point of service life. In cases of gas cylinders with very high cycle strength, residual strength cannot be quantified statistically by means of hydraulic load cycles. As a replacement, creep tests or burst tests may be employed. BAM suggests the 'slow burst test SBT' as a combination of these two test procedures. This is a compromise between the practicability of the (conventional) burst test and the practical relevance of sustained loads during service, to be tested in creep rupture tests. In this paper, a variety of 99 burst results of a cylinder design type used for breathing apparatus (CFRP with PE-liner) is evaluated. The influence of test procedure parameters and nature and intensity of artificial ageing on the test sample strength are analysed statistically. This leads to an evaluation of different procedures of artificial ageing and the recommendation to substitute conventional burst tests by slow burst tests for the assessment of composite pressure receptacles.
Faserverbundwerkstoffe (Komposite) zeigen außergewöhnliche Veränderungen ihrer Eigenschaften in Abhängigkeit von der Betriebsdauer. Daraus leitet sich auch die Notwendigkeit ab, eine Methode zu finden, die in der Lage ist, Festigkeiten und Restfestigkeiten von Komposit-Druckbehältern zu ermitteln. Dies kann mittels Lastwechselprüfung oder in anderen Fällen vorzugsweise mittels der langsamen Berstprüfung erfolgen. Für eine aussagekräftige Beschreibung der Festigkeit bedürfen die Ergebnisse beider Prüfverfahren einer statistischen Auswertung. Aber insbesondere die statistische Auswertung der berstbezogenen Festigkeitseigenschaften unterliegt neben der Frage der Stichprobengröße einer großen Unsicherheit mit enormen Folgen. Dies ist die Frage, welche Verteilungsfunktion der Streuung der Festigkeitseigenschaft konservativ zugrundegelegt werden darf. So ist zu untersuchen, ob die Gaußsche Normalverteilung (NV) die wahre Verteilung richtig beschreibt. Es könnten aber auch andere Funktionen, wie z. B. die Weibull-Verteilung notwendig sein, um eine Überschätzung der Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit bzw. Zuverlässigkeit in dem interessanten Bereich von einem Ausfall pro 104 bis 108 Druckbehältern zu vermeiden.
Applications by fire brigades expose the composite cylinders to harsh temperature and handling conditions. Standards have been used for certifying composite cylinders, which are designed for transport of dangerous goods and do not reflect service conditions specific to fire brigades. In this paper, the residual safety of a design type (fully wrapped with aluminum and carbon fiber composite) at the end of their service life of 15 yrs is analyzed. One sample underwent hydraulic load cycle (LC) tests, another conventional burst tests, and the third slow burst tests (SBTs). The statistical evaluation and the handling of an unexpected high amount of early failures are shown.
Hydraulic pressure testing of composite gas cylinders damages the cylinders, but provides very limited information. For this reason, the Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing (BAM) demands the assessment of the safety of design types for retest periods of more than three years by employing destructive testing of small samples.
This gives insight in properties not quantified by current standards.
Depending on the cycle fatigue behaviour of the individual design type either cycle tests or slow burst tests are employed. In this paper methods are introduced for a statistical assessment of sample results of both test methods. This includes gathering the average and load cycle burst strength, and the scatter of a sample as well as analysing and plotting them as a pair of values. Each pair of values representing a sample can be assessed approximately regarding its survival rate in service, if the introduced performance charts are employed.
The slow burst testing of composite cylinders - Part II: Statistic evaluation of sample test results
(2013)
The current practise of focusing the periodic retesting of composite cylinders primarily on the hydraulic pressure test has to be evaluated as critical - with regard to the damage of the specimen as well as in Terms of their significance. This is justified by micro damages caused to the specimen by the test itself and by a lack of informative values. Thus BAM Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing (Germany) uses a new approach of validation of composite for the determination of re-test periods. It enables the description of the state of a population of composite cylinders based on destructive tests parallel to operation.
An essential aspect of this approach is the prediction of residual safe service life. In cases where it cannot be estimated by means of hydraulic load cycle tests, as a replacement the creep or burst test remains. As a combination of these two test procedures BAM suggests the 'slow burst test SBT'. On this a variety of about 150 burst test results on three design types of cylinders with plastic liners are presented. For this purpose both, the parameters of the test protocol as well as the nature and intensity of the pre-damage artificially aged test samples are analysed statistically. This leads first to an evaluation of the different types of artificial ageing but also to the clear recommendation that conventional burst tests be substituted
totally if indented for assessment of composite pressure receptacles.
The current practice of periodic retesting of composite pressure receptacles primarily based on the hydraulic pressure test has to be evaluated as critical.
This is justified by micro damages caused to the specimen by the test
itself and by a lack of informative values. Thus, BAM Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing uses a new validation approach in the case of retest periods of more than 5 years. It enables the description of the condition of a specific design type series based on destructive tests parallel to operation. With respect to this approach it is explained how the statistical evaluation of sample tests and their extrapolation to end of life or at least to the time of next retesting can be achieved. In addition, it is explained how the reliability limits may be linked to the size and pressure level of the respective composite pressure receptacle. The frame of this safety Approach includes the influence of the maximum working pressure on the safety assessment.
One topic of this approach is the introduction of the working diagram
essential for safety assessments that allows graphical evaluation of load cycle strength by mean value, scatter and survival rate of samples as well as instruction how to use it. For this, it is explained how the number of filling cycles and the reduction of the respective hydraulic residual cycle strength interacts with the newly introduced value of specific filling sensitivity.
Featuring a detailed analysis of current approval requirements and the relevant safety assessment methods for gas cylinders in general and with main focus on composite cylinders for storing ompressed natural gas and hydrogen, this book demonstrates how current regulations and standards limit the ability to reduce cost and weight. Based on this data, it then highlights the potential offered by the proposed approval procedure based on probabilistic safety assessment.
After addressing the economic potential of probabilistic safety assessments, the book details working procedures and improving cycles and (slow) bursts as methods for assessing residual strength. It then discusses methods for statistically evaluating test data, as well as sample- size and distribution character considerations. A definition of sample strength is elaborated in terms of the performance sheets developed by the author. On this basis, it discusses safety as a property of service life and interpreted as an issue of degradation, and explores aspects of artificial aging for simulating the end-of-life reliability level. Lastly, the book considers control and inspection aspects: quality of production, degradation prediction using destructive sample tests parallel to operation, retesting periods and correcting for underand overestimates of safe lifetime.
Presented in schematic diagrams, illustrations and tables, this information enables manufacturers and operators to use this new approach in practice and supports the improvement of current regulations and standards.