FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATION OF THE WINDING PROCESS OF BAND WOUND VESSELS WITH LINER

A finite element analysis strategy for simulating the winding process of band wound vessels with metal liner is proposed according to the characteristics of the winding process and finite element method. The finite elements are classified into two types, “real elements” and “fictitious elements”. The real material constants are used for “real elements”. The fictitious elements use a fictitious stiffness that is sufficient small not to affect the computation results. When a new layer is wound, all the elements in the winding layer are “realized” by replacing the small fictitious stiffness by the real one. The temperature parameter of the elements is employed to control the winding tension to respected values. The method is simple, flexible and suitable for vessels with complex shapes. Several typical cylinders are analyzed. The comparison of the numerical results with those obtained by simplified analytical methods shows that the finite element method proposed is correct and effective. It has a reliable precision.