Multi scale systematisation of damage and failure modes of high-pressure hydrogen composite vessels in aviation, Part 1: Methodology

In the development of composite Compressed Gaseous Hydrogen (CGH2) storage vessels the multitude of design, material and manufacturing parameters introduce uncertainties. In addition with complex interacting failure modes such as delamination, matrix and fibre failure high safety margins are needed. The aim of this paper is to enable the decrease of safety margins by developing a fundamental methodology to systematise superimposed loads and their propagation across length scales and load domains to enable the reliability assessment and development of CGH2 vessels in aircraft with high reliability and maximum gravimetric storage density. Therefore, the objectives are to analyse existing development strategies, to derive requirements for a new development approach and to define its underlying logic and procedure. This results in a methodology to systematise potentially occurring load cases, corresponding stresses and resulting failure modes of CGH2 vessels in aircraft along the length scales from the aircraft super-system to the material level.