Burst tests and volume expansions of vehicle toroidal LPG fuel tanks

Authors: YASİN KİŞİOĞLU

Abstract: This study addresses the prediction of the burst pressures and permanent volume expansions of the vehicle toroidal LPG fuel tanks using both experimental and finite element analysis (FEA) approaches. The experimental burst test investigations were carried out hydrostatically in which the cylinders were internally pressurized with water. The LPG tanks are subjected to incremental internal uniform pressure in the FEA modeling. 2D nonlinear plane models are developed and evaluated under non-uniform and axisysmmetric boundary conditions. For the analysis, the required actual shell properties including weld zone and thickness variations are investigated. Therefore, the results of the burst pressures and volume expansions are predicted and compared to experimental ones.

Keywords: Toroidal shells, LPG fuel tanks, Burst pressures, Permanent volume expansions, Nonlinear failure analysis.

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