Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPV)

Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPV): Design and Safe Operations for Aerospace and Automotive Applications facilitates acquisition of the technical skillsets essential to navigate design, manufacture, qualification and acceptance testing, handling, and operation of these complex systems.

The book follows a cogent structure that accompanies readers through an introductory historical evolution of the pressure vessel industry and discussions of applications for both the aerospace and automotive sectors, to then delve into manufacturing specifications and processes as the two industries have relatively different approaches to certification. Safely using pressure vessels, however, primarily requires an understanding of hazards and their corresponding failure modes, which establish and regulate specific requirements to mitigate any associated risks. Coherent with this objective, an overview of standards developed by the AIAA, CGA, and ISO is presented to provide a framework for quality management and is followed by rigorous coverage of analytical aspects, including computational models, non-destructive inspection techniques, and testing methodologies to verify reliability of the COPVs devised. The practical insights on operational considerations and end-of-life scenarios conclude this in-depth investigation, ensuring that engineering professionals and academic audiences alike are offered a well-rounded resource to further advance optimized, but also cost-effective real-world utilization of this revolutionary storage hardware for pressurized fluids in launch vehicles, spacecraft, and hydrogen or natural gas-fueled ground vehicles.

• Elucidates the complexities associated with the use of pressure vessels to store compressed liquids and gases
• Enables understanding of the approaches employed by the aerospace and automotive industries to design, certify, and operate composite overwrapped pressure vessels
• Establishes safety requirements and the methods for verification of compliance to manufacturing standards