Effect of statistical scatter in the elastic properties on the predictability of first ply failure of a polymer composite pressure vessel

Abstract

Statistical variations in the elastic properties of composites are unavoidable. This work is concerned with the assessment of the probabilistic first ply failure of pressure vessel in response to the variations of elastic properties of T700 carbon/epoxy composite among the published literature. Initially, deterministic failure pressure is estimated using Finite Element Analysis software ANSYS. The uncertainties with respect to elastic properties are quantified by using Statistical software MINITAB. Then, the probability design system platform in ANSYS software has been utilized to perform probabilistic failure analysis by Monte Carlo simulations. The statistical results in terms of the mean and standard deviation of first ply failure pressure are computed. The probabilistic first ply failure pressure range determined is within 3 limits with 99.997% confidence level. It is helpful to the designers to assess the factor of safety in the case of anticipated variations in properties.