Analysis of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Rehabilitation of Cracked Pressure Vessel Using Finite-element Method (FEM)

Investigation of repaired crack in pressure vessels plays a critical role in the maintenance of cylindrical vessels which are under static loads. Pressurized vessels are critical elements in many industries that may be subjected to degradation and cracking due to working conditions. There are several methods to repair such reservoirs, including welding of damaged points, but this is not possible in some conditions, such as the presence of inflammable materials inside the reservoir. One of the most reliable ways to repair these types of vessels is using composite materials. In this research, crack created in the reservoir is repaired using carbon / epoxy composites. Results of this study confirm the association between the strength of vessels walls and thickness of composite materials. In this paper, the effect of different parameters such as thickness and radius of the reservoir, and composite thickness are investigated. The results show that increasing the thickness of the composite is effective, so by doubling the thickness of composite, stress intensity factor decreases by 13%. Moreover, the use of composites in thin wall tanks is much more effective than the case of a thick reservoir wall.