299. Nitrous Oxide Composite Tank Testing
Team
| Name | Role | Primary |
| Seok Bin Lim | Principal Investigator | ● |
| Andrei Zagrai | Principal Investigator | ● |
| Yvonne Tran | Tech Monitor | ● |
| Danielle Monette | Fiscal Admin | ● |
| Lisa Oty | Fiscal Admin | ● |
| Gayle Bailey | Contract Admin | ● |
Project Description
The objective of the proposed research activity is to investigate the fracture and fragmentation behavior of composite fuel tanks in commercial space vehicles. In this
proposed effort, a tank consisting of an aluminum liner with a composite outer wrap will be pressurized to failure. A tank approximately 18 in. long and 6 in. diameter with a carbon fiber wrapped aluminum inner liner will be evaluated. The tank represents a current space-industry grade fuel tank. Two of these tests are planned to demonstrate repeatability and the capability for prediction using available computational programs.
Project Outcomes
The project is divided into two tasks. Task 1 includes two tests to failure of a full
tank consisting of a carbon fiber wrapped aluminum inner liner and Task 2 is development of the computational simulation model. Once Task 2 is completed, a numerical simulation of full tank tests with reasonable accuracy will be available.
Summary of Output
– Tests have been performed with aluminum plates and with one composite plate material. Both tests showed shear failures of the plate material.
– The test of the composite material resulted in the delamination of the composite at approximately mid-thickness, even though failure was through shear at edge
Quad Chart
