Effects of Thickness and Winding Angle of Reinforcement Laminates on Burst Pressure Capacity of Thermoplastic Composite Pipes

Abstract

The cross section of thermoplastic composite pipes (TCPs) generally consists of three layers: inner liner, reinforcement laminate, and outer jacket, which are fully-bonded together to form a solid-walled structure. In this study, mechanical behaviors of a TCP under an internal pressure were investigated by using analytical and finite element analysis (FEA) methods. The analytical method which is based on the three-dimensional (3D) anisotropy elastic theory can take account of non-uniformly distributed stress and strain through the thickness of the pipe wall. FEA models were setup by using the software ABAQUS to predict the stress distribution of a TCP. 3D Tsai-Wu failure criterion was used to predict its maximum burst pressure. Effects of winding angles and number of reinforcement plies on the burst pressure of TCPs were studied. Results obtained from the analytical and FEA methods matched with each other, which showed that with the increasing of number of reinforcement plies the burst pressure of a TCP gradually increased to an asymptotic value. In addition, the optimal winding angle associated with the maximum burst pressure was not a constant value, instead, it varied with the increasing thickness of the laminate layer. This study provided useful tools and guidance for the design and analysis of TCPs, while further validation experiments are still needed.

Stress Distribution and Fracture Toughness of Underground Reinforced Plastic Pipe Composite

“…Moreover, the effects of the layup and fiber orientation were studied. Another finite element study [ 11 , 12 ] investigated the effect of thickness, winding direction, and the number of fabric plies of composite cylinders under internal pressure on the characteristic mechanical properties using the analytical finite element method. The hoop stress distribution or the circumferential thickness tensile strength was calculated numerically and experimentally using a split-disk test method [ 13 ], which was based on a progressive damage model through finite element analysis of a cracked disk.…”