The cryogenic evaluation of typical and experimental filament winding materials

HyPerComp Engineering, Inc. (HEI) proposes to develop well characterized, reliable filament wound composite pressure vessels for cryogenic and other low temperature applications. The proposed effort also explores the potential for a significant improvement in filament wound composite pressure vessels performance (end results: lighter weights) through cryogenic process treatment. Both the aerospace and the commercial communities have shown significant interest in using filament wound composite pressure vessels for cryogenic applications. Investigation has shown that to date this usage has been limited and that ?off the shelf? composite pressure vessels have been used. Constituent materials and the pressure vessel designs have not been well characterized for these types of applications and as such the margins for these applications are not well defined. This in turn means that the reliability of such usage is basically unknown. HyPerComp Engineering has recently completed a Phase one SBIR through NASA, MSFC. This successful effort demonstrated some significant material degradation and the potential for significant improvements in composite pressure vessel performance in cryogenic usage (NAS8?03027). The effort proposed herein builds upon that knowledge, significantly expands the data base, and will result in reliable ?off the shelf? technology for composite pressure vessels in cryogenic applications.