Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Inspection techniques for composite overwrapped pressure vessels

Conference ·
OSTI ID:122580
;  [1]
  1. Aerospace Corp., Los Angeles, CA (United States)
This paper documents findings from a feasibility study regarding the application of four NDE methods to the problem of detecting and locating impact sites on Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs). The four NDE methods employed in the study were ultrasound, thermography, electronic shearography and acoustic emission monitoring. The results of the investigation show that the threshold for detection, in terms of impact energy, for an impact site depends not only on the NDE method applied, but also on the size and shape of the vessel and the location (e.g., membrane, dome) of the impact. For the three vessel configurations examined, detection thresholds ranged from 10 J to 20 J, while the onset of visible impact indications ranged from 20 J to over 50 J.
OSTI ID:
122580
Report Number(s):
CONF-950740--; ISBN 0-7918-1349-5
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English