Development of a micromechanical model in interaction with parameters related to the microstructure of carbon/epoxy composites.

Gaseous Hydrogen storage under high pressure for autonomous energy application leads to non-metallic solutions for the material of vessels. The choice of wound carbon / epoxy composites was adopted for the design of storage tanks under high pressure. In this paper, the development of a micromechanical model in interaction with the microstructure parameters is presented. First a finite element analysis (FEA) allows us to perform numerical simulations on a representative volume cell based on observed microstructure to determine the local mechanical response. Then a parametric study is done. It reveals the effects of the voids on the mechanical properties. These effects identification and evaluation will be the basics knowledge bricks to build a guide design and process improvements for the vessel dome behaviours