FILAMENT-WOUND SPHERICAL PRESSURE VESSELS: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW.

Filament-wound composite materials offer practical alternatives to metals for pressure vessel applications where weight, service, environment, or other factors limit the use of metals. In particular, such pressure vessels with a spherical geometry are used in applications in the space shuttle and for storage of various fluids. For these vessels, typical composite materials and filament-winding procedures currently in use are described, and a brief primer on their stress analysis and failure criteria is presented. Details of the behavior and statistics of failure of these vessels under static internal pressurization are given. Finally, the latest concepts in the monitoring and modeling of internal damage are summarized