Claims
- 1. A vessel comprising:
a vessel body having a doubly curved surface, the vessel body being disposed about a vessel body axis; and a reinforcing structure disposed at the doubly curved surface of the vessel body about the vessel body axis, the reinforcing structure comprising
a plurality of gore pieces disposed on the vessel body at the doubly curved surface to form a gore body, each of the gore pieces comprising a composite sheet having a shape that conforms to the doubly curved surface, the gore pieces being disposed on the doubly curved surface in overlapping relation.
- 2. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the gore pieces comprises a fiber pre-preg composite material.
- 3. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the gore pieces comprises a bonding material to bond the gore pieces to one another.
- 4. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein the bonding material comprises a resin.
- 5. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the gore pieces has a gore piece longitudinal dimension and comprising fibers oriented in a plus/minus configuration relative to the gore piece longitudinal dimension.
- 6. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein the fibers in the plus/minus configuration of each of the gore pieces are oriented at a fiber angle of between about 30 degrees and 60 degrees with respect to the gore piece longitudinal axis.
- 7. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein the fiber angle is about 45 degrees.
- 8. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the gore pieces has a shape that comprises a substantially triangular section.
- 9. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the gore pieces has a shape that comprises a substantially rhombic section.
- 10. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
the gore body comprises a first layer of gore pieces substantially abutting one another around the doubly curved surface, and a second layer of gore pieces disposed over the first layer of gore-pieces and around the doubly curved surface so that each of the second layer gore pieces overlaps at least two of the first layer gore pieces.
- 11. A vessel as set forth in claim 10, wherein:
each of the gore pieces includes a meridional edge; and each of the first layer gore pieces abuts an adjacent one of the first layer gore pieces at the meridional edges.
- 12. A vessel as recited in claim 10, wherein each of the second layer gore pieces overlaps the at least two first layer gore pieces by about 40 to 60 percent.
- 13. A vessel as set forth in claim 10, wherein each of the second layer gore pieces overlaps the at least two first layer gore pieces by about 50 percent.
- 14. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
the gore body comprises a first layer of gore pieces disposed around the doubly curved surface, and sequential ones of the first layer gore pieces overlap one another.
- 15. A vessel as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the first layer gore pieces overlaps an adjacent first layer gore piece by about 40 to 60 percent.
- 16. A vessel as recited in claim 15, wherein each of the first layer gore pieces overlaps an adjacent one of the first layer gore pieces by about 50 percent.
- 17. A vessel as recited in claim 1, wherein the gore body has a substantially uniform thickness.
- 18. A vessel as recited in claim 1, wherein:
each of the gore pieces has an offset angle with respect to the gore piece longitudinal dimension and the vessel body longitudinal axis; and the offset angle is between about +15 degrees and −15 degrees.
- 19. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
each of the gore pieces has an offset angle with respect to the gore piece longitudinal dimension and the vessel body longitudinal axis; and the offset angle is a maximum of about 20 degrees.
- 20. A vessel as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the gore pieces has an offset angle relative to the axis of symmetry such that a plurality tangents taken at points on the longitudinal axis defines a perpendicular plane relative to the plurality of tangents, the perpendicular plane passing through the gore piece longitudinal dimension and appearing as a line when the perpendicular plane is rotated for viewing as a straight line.
- 21. A vessel as set forth in claim 20, wherein the line of alignment deviates no more than about 15 degrees from the axis of symmetry when the line of alignment is viewed from the orientation where the perpendicular plane appears as the straight line.
- 22. A vessel as set forth in claim 20, wherein the line of alignment deviates no more than 10 degrees from the axis of symmetry when the line of alignment is viewed from the orientation where the perpendicular plane appears as the straight line.
- 23. A vessel as set forth in claim 20, wherein the line of alignment deviates no more than 5 degrees from the axis of symmetry when the line of alignment is viewed from the orientation where the perpendicular plane appears as the straight line.
- 24. A vessel as set forth in claim 20, wherein the line of alignment is substantially aligned with the axis of symmetry when the line of alignment is viewed from the orientation where the perpendicular plane appears as the straight line.
- 25. A reinforcing structure for a vessel having a vessel body with a doubly curved surface, the vessel body being disposed about a vessel body axis, the reinforcing structure comprising:
a plurality of gore pieces shaped to conform to the doubly curved surface of the vessel body about the vessel body longitudinal axis and to form a gore body, and each of the gore pieces comprising a composite sheet.
- 26. A reinforcing structure as set forth in claim 25, wherein each of the gore pieces comprises a fiber pre-preg composite material.
- 27. A reinforcing structure as set forth in claim 25, wherein each of the gore pieces comprises a bonding material to bond the gore pieces to one another.
- 28. A reinforcing structure as set forth in claim 27, wherein the bonding material comprises a resin.
- 29. A reinforcing structure as set forth in claim 25, wherein:
each of the gore pieces has a gore piece longitudinal dimension; and each of the gore pieces comprises fibers oriented in a plus/minus configuration relative to the gore piece longitudinal dimension.
- 30. A reinforcing structure as set forth in claim 29, wherein the fibers in the plus/minus configuration of each of the gore pieces are oriented at a fiber angle of between about 30 degrees and 60 degrees with respect to the gore piece longitudinal axis.
- 31. A reinforcing structure as set forth in claim 30, wherein the fiber angle is about 45 degrees.
- 32. A reinforcing structure as set forth in claim 25, wherein each of the gore pieces has a shape that comprises a substantially triangular section.
- 33. A reinforcing structure as set forth in claim 25, wherein each of the gore pieces has a shape that comprises a substantially rhombic section.
- 34. A method for making a reinforcing structure for a vessel having a vessel body with a doubly curved surface, the vessel body being disposed about a vessel body axis, the method comprising:
making a plurality of gore pieces for disposition on the vessel body at the doubly curved surface about the vessel body axis to form a gore body, the gore piece disposing step including providing each of the gore pieces as a composite sheet, each of the gore pieces having a gore piece longitudinal dimension and each of the gore pieces comprising fibers oriented in a plus/minus configuration relative to the gore piece longitudinal dimension.
- 35. A method as set forth in claim 34, wherein method further includes orienting the fibers in the plus/minus configuration of each of the gore pieces at a fiber angle of between about 30 degrees and 60 degrees with respect to the gore 20 piece longitudinal axis.
- 36. A method as set forth in claim 35, wherein the fiber angle is about 45 degrees.
- 37. A method as set forth in claim 34, wherein the method further includes providing each of the gore pieces with a shape that comprises a substantially triangular section.
- 38. A method as set forth in claim 34, wherein the method further comprises providing each of the gore pieces with a shape that comprises a substantially rhombic section.
- 39. A method as set forth in claim 34, wherein the method further includes disposing a bonding material on each of the gore pieces.
- 40. A method as set forth in claim 39, wherein the bonding material comprises a resin.
- 41. A method for reinforcing a vessel having a vessel body with a doubly curved surface, the vessel body being disposed about a vessel body longitudinal axis, the method comprising:
a step of providing a plurality of gore pieces, each of the gore pieces comprising a composite sheet, a step of disposing a plurality of gore pieces on the vessel body at the doubly curved surface about the vessel body longitudinal axis to form a gore body, and including shaping each of the gore pieces to conform to the doubly curved surface, the gore piece disposing step further including disposing the gore pieces on the doubly curved surface in overlapping relation.
- 42. A method as set forth in claim 41, wherein the gore piece disposing step includes providing the gore pieces with a bonding material to bond the gore pieces to one another.
- 43. A method as set forth in claim 42, wherein the bonding material comprises a resin.
- 44. A method as set forth in claim 41, wherein the gore piece disposing step includes providing each of the gore pieces with a gore piece longitudinal dimension and providing each of the gore pieces to comprise fibers oriented in a plus/minus configuration relative to the gore piece longitudinal dimension.
- 45. A vessel as set forth in claim 44, wherein gore piece disposing step includes orienting the fibers in the plus/minus configuration of each of the gore pieces at a fiber angle of between about 30 degrees and 60 degrees with respect to the gore piece longitudinal axis.
- 46. A method as set forth in claim 45, wherein the fiber angle is about 45 degrees.
- 47. A method as set forth in claim 41, wherein the gore piece disposing step includes providing each of the gore pieces with a shape that comprises a substantially triangular section.
- 48. A method as set forth in claim 41, wherein the gore piece disposing step includes providing each of the gore pieces with a shape that comprises a substantially rhombic section.
- 49. A method as set forth in claim 41, wherein:
the gore piece disposing step includes disposing the gore pieces on the doubly curved surface in first and second layers so that the first layer gore pieces substantially abut one another around the doubly curved surface, and the second layer gore pieces are disposed over the first layer gore pieces and around the doubly curved surface so that each of the second layer gore pieces overlaps at least two of the first layer gore pieces.
- 50. A method as set forth in claim 49, wherein:
each of the gore pieces includes a meridional edge; and the gore piece disposing step includes abutting sequential ones of the first layer gore pieces to one another at the meridional edges.
- 51. A method as recited in claim 49, wherein the gore piece disposing step includes disposing each of the respective second layer gore pieces on the at least two first layer gore pieces so that the respective second layer gore pieces overlap the at least two first layer gore pieces by about 40 to 60 percent.
- 52. A method as recited in claim 49, wherein the gore piece disposing step includes disposing each of the respective second layer gore pieces on the at least two first layer gore pieces so that the respective second layer gore pieces overlap the at least two first layer gore pieces by about 50 percent.
- 53. A method as set forth in claim 41, wherein the gore piece disposing step includes disposing a first layer of the gore pieces around the doubly curved surface, and overlapping adjacent ones of the first layer gore pieces on one another.
- 54. A method as recited in claim 41, wherein the overlapping step includes overlapping each of the first layer gore pieces over an adjacent one of the first layer gore pieces by about 40 to 60 percent.
- 55. A method as recited in claim 54, wherein the overlapping step includes overlapping each of the first layer gore pieces over an adjacent one of the first layer gore pieces by about 50 percent.
- 56. A method as recited in claim 41, wherein the gore piece disposing lo step includes disposing the gore pieces so that the gore body has a substantially uniform thickness.
- 57. A method of making a reinforcing structure for use in a pressure vessel having a dome comprising a doubly curved surface, the method comprising:
forming a plurality of resin-impregnated bound gore pieces adapted to be assembled in a gore body over the dome, wherein each of the gore pieces presents a longitudinal axis and tapers from a first portion towards a second portion along predetermined lines permitting overlap ranging from forty to sixty percent between adjacent ones of the gore pieces as assembled to form the gore body, and each gore piece is formed of fibers interspersed to provide a plus/minus angle configuration oriented on a line of alignment; and assembling the gore pieces to form the gore body over the dome where the gore body has an axis of symmetry that passes through the dome by placing each of the gore pieces in an orientation relative to the axis of symmetry such that a plurality tangents taken on points of the longitudinal axis of each gore piece defines a perpendicular plane relative to the plurality of tangents and the perpendicular plane passes through the longitudinal axis, and orienting the line of alignment to deviate no more than twenty degrees relative to the axis of symmetry when the line of alignment is viewed from an orientation where the perpendicular plane appears as a straight line.
- 58. A method according to claim 57, wherein the step of orienting the line of alignment includes orienting the line of alignment to deviate no more than 15 degrees from the axis of symmetry when the line of alignment is viewed from the orientation where the perpendicular plane appears as the straight line.
- 59. A method according to claim 57, wherein the step of orienting the line of alignment includes orienting the line of alignment to deviate no more than 10 degrees from the axis of symmetry when the line of alignment is viewed from the orientation where the perpendicular plane appears as the straight line.
- 60. A method according to claim 57, wherein the step of orienting the line of alignment includes orienting the line of alignment to deviate no more than 5 degrees from the axis of symmetry when the line of alignment is viewed from the orientation where the perpendicular plane appears as the straight line.
- 61. A method according to claim 57, wherein the step of orienting the line of alignment includes orienting the line of alignment to be substantially aligned with the axis of symmetry when the line of alignment is viewed from the orientation where the perpendicular plane appears as the straight line.
- 62. A method according to claim 57, wherein the step of assembling the gore pieces includes overlapping respective gore pieces occurs by
butting first and second adjacent gore pieces together at their meridional edges followed by placing a third gore piece over the meridional edges to provide the overlap ranging from forty to sixty percent between the third gore piece and the first and second gore pieces respectively.
- 63. A method according to claim 57, wherein the step of assembling the gore pieces includes
overlapping adjacent gore pieces individually with one another in a sequence where a first gore piece occupies a first level, a second gore piece has a second piece overlapping portion occupying a second level atop the first gore piece and a second piece non-overlapping portion occupying the first level adjacent the first gore piece, and a third gore piece has a third piece overlapping portion occupying the second level atop the second piece non-overlapping portion and a third piece non-overlapping portion occupying the first level adjacent the second gore piece.
- 64. A method according to claim 57, wherein:
the step of forming the gore pieces further includes forming a plurality of additional segments tapering from the first portion towards a third portion; and the step of assembling the gore pieces includes assembling the additional segments over a second dome end to form a second gore body over the second dome end.
- 65. A method according to claim 64, wherein the step of forming the gore pieces includes integrally forming each gore piece with one of the additional segments.
- 66. A method according to claim 64, wherein the step of forming the gore pieces includes forming each gore piece separately from the additional segments.
- 67. A method according to claim 57, wherein the step of assembling the gore pieces includes providing a polar opening formed through the dome end and the gore body.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/227,176 filed in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office on Aug. 22, 2001, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
GOVERNMENT LICENSE RIGHTS
[0002] The U.S. Government has a paid-up license in this invention and the right in limited circumstances to require the patent owner to license others on reasonable terms as provided for by the terms of contract no. FO4611-97-C-0053 awarded by the U.S. Air Force.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60227176 |
Aug 2000 |
US |