Fatigue life of organic fiber/epoxy pressure vessels
The cyclic fatigue life of 10.2-cm-diam cylindrical pressure vessels has been studied. The vessels were made of an organic fiber/epoxy composite. To determine the typical strength distribution of the vessels, 25 of them were internally pressurized until they burst. Twenty-five vessels were then tested under sinusoidal cycling at 1 Hz between 4% and 91% of the mean burst strength. An additional twenty-five vessels were tested between 4% and 91% with a rectangular pressure pulse at 1/3 Hz. A limited number of vessels were tested for stress rupture at the 91% level. Cyclic life was found to depend on time at peak load as well as the number of stress cycles.