Pressure vessel with improved impact resistance and method of making the same

An improved composite over-wrapped pressure vessel having a thin wall, a hollow center and a longitudinal axis;

• said thin wall comprising a composite material having fibers disposed in a resin matrix, the improvement comprising at least a first and a second set of fibers of different types;
• at least one layer of fibers of only said first set being helically oriented with respect to said longitudinal axis;
• and at least one layer of fibers only said second set being hoop oriented with respect to said longitudinal axis;
• said second set of fibers comprise about 5% to 55% fiber weight of said first and second sets of fibers;
• said first set of fibers selected from the group consisting of:
• carbon, high strength carbon, and steel;
• and
• said second set of fibers selected from the group consisting of:
• glass, long-chain polyamide, liquid crystal polymer, polyethylene, metal, crosslinkable elastomer, crosslinkable thermoplastic, crosslinkable thermoplastic elastomer, p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole, Poly{2,6-diimidazo[4,5-b4′,5′-e]pyridinylene-1,4(2,5-dihydroxy)phenylene}, (PIPD) (M-5), polyaramid polyparaphenylene terephthalamide, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene and polyester-polyarylate.

An improved composite over-wrapped pressure vessel having a thin wall, a hollow center and a longitudinal axis;

• said thin wall comprising a composite material having fibers disposed in a resin matrix, the improvement comprising at least a first and a second set of fibers of different types;
• an inner layer of said first and second sets of fibers are mixed together;
• said layer being hoop wound with respect to said longitudinal axis;
• and a second, outer layer of fibers of either of only said first set and only said second set of fibers, said fibers are helically oriented with respect to said longitudinal axis;
• and
• said second set of fibers comprising about 5% to 55% fiber weight of said first and second sets of fibers;
• said first set of fibers selected from the group consisting of:
• carbon, high strength carbon, and steel;
• and
• said second set of fibers selected from the group consisting of:
• glass, long-chain polyamide, liquid crystal polymer, polyethylene, metal, crosslinkable elastomer, crosslinkable thermoplastic, crosslinkable thermoplastic elastomer, p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole, Poly{2,6-diimidazo[4,5-b4′,5′-e]pyridinylene-1,4(2,5-dihydroxy)phenylene}, (PIPD) (M-5), polyaramid polyparaphenylene terephthalamide, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene polyester-polyarylate.

An improved composite over-wrapped pressure vessel having a thin wall, a hollow center and a longitudinal axis;

• said thin wall comprising a composite material having fibers disposed in a resin matrix, the improvement comprising at least a first and a second set of fibers of different types;
• at least one layer of said first and second sets of fibers are mixed together;
• said layer being helically oriented with respect to said longitudinal axis;
• and at least one layer of fibers of only said first set, said fibers being hoop oriented with respect to said longitudinal axis;
• and at least one layer of fibers of only said second set, said fibers being helically oriented with respect to said longitudinal axis;
• said first set of fibers selected from the group consisting of:
• carbon, high strength carbon, and steel;
• and
• said second set of fibers selected from the group consisting of:
• glass, long-chain polyamide, liquid crystal polymer, polyethylene, metal, crosslinkable elastomer, crosslinkable thermoplastic, crosslinkable thermoplastic elastomer, p-phenylenebenzobisoxazole, Poly{2,6-diimidazo[4,5-b4′,5′-e]pyridinylene-1,4(2,5-dihydroxy)phenylene}, (PIPD) (M-5) polyaramid polyparaphenylene terephthalamide, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene and polyester-polyarylate.