Analysis of prestresses in multilayered filament wound cylindrical pressure vessels

Filament wound multilayered vessels are fabricated by continuously winding the filament over a mandrel of the shape and size of the desired vessel. The mandrel may be a removable one, or one that remains as a permanent part of the vessel. During fabrication of this kind of vessels, the filaments made up of reinforcing fibers and resins, are wound with tension over the mandrel. This winding tension in the filament induces compressive stresses in the vessel, which in turn increases the burst pressure of the vessel. This paper presents a method to determine the prestresses induced in the filament wound cylinders due to winding tension both in axial and circumferential directions. When a layer is wound with tension, it induces incremental compressive stresses in the preceding layers, while the present layer itself is in tension. The compressive stresses induced by subsequent addition of new layers reduce this tensile stress. The results of the present analysis show that the prestresses compensate the stresses due to working internal pressure. The prestresses induced depend upon various parameters like winding tension, winding angle of each layer, and the material used.