Abstract

High-performance composites are increasingly becoming an essential part of aircraft structural composites and
are being explored for space and underwater applications. The concept of hybrid yarn systems, co-weaving
and co-mingling, has further enlarged the scope of thermoplastic composites that have demonstrated potential
performance advantages over conventional thermoset composites. To design high pressure composite cylinders
with the highest possible safety, reliability and minimum weight considerations, the behavior of composite
structures under various mechanical and thermal loadings need to be well understood. The fibers, trajectory of the
fiber path and the corresponding fiber angles that are used in commercial cylinders cannot be chosen arbitrarily
for the high pressure cylinders and require a different design approach to meet stringent requirements of EN or
DoT specifications. Defense biod-engineering and electromedical laboratory has initiated work in this direction to
develop and indigenize high-pressure composite cylinders for various lifesaving equipment’s and finally achieve
self-reliance in the above field. This paper describes system design and system engineering considerations for
the Type-3 and/Type-4 high-pressure composite cylinders required for aerospace applications. Type-4 composite
cylinders offer great promise in the near future for advanced composites and space applications.