For future Earth-to-orbit transport vehicles, reusability and lighter weights are sought for the main propellant tanks. To achieve this, a filament wound tank with a metal liner and an intermediate layer of foam-filled honeycomb is proposed. A hydrogen tank is used as an example. To accommodate mismatches in the expansion of liner and overwrap a design is proposed wherin the liner is configured so that the extension of the liner under pressure matches the expected contraction of the same liner due to the presence of a cryogen. In operation, the liner is pressurized at a rate such that the pressure strain matches the contraction due to decrease in temperature. As an alternate approach, compressive pre-stress is placed in the liner such that it will not separate from the overwrap. A finite element program is used to show stresses in the liner and overwrap for various tank pressures for the pre-stressed liner concept. A fracture mechanics analysis is made of the liners to determine tank life. The tank concept shown has a similar weight to the Shuttle external hydrogen tank, but the filament wound tank is expected to be reusable. Integration of the propellant tanks into a future transport vehicle is discussed.


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    Title :

    Filament Wound Metal Lined Propellant Tanks for Future Earth-to-Orbit Transports


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    1988


    Size :

    32 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English