3 ms·

Composites are used all the time in applications in which they undergo cyclic compression. So your first thought is one you should have dismissed. You know what

• pjkundert 3y ago
  Any compression pressure gradient that causes the N-layer composite to yield beyond its natural elasticity, and causes any breakdown of level 1 in the N-layer matrix allowing intrusion of fluid beyond that level, has now caused a permanent failure. You now have a vessel of effective thickness N-1 (the outer layer will be sheared away and lost). However, your new N-1 layer vessel now has an average pressure gradient across N-1 instead of N layers, increasing the deflection of the remaining layers, resulting in accelerated cracking, failure and loss of the next layer. This all occurs over < ~1 millisecond at an 800bar pressure differential. This failure mode is radically different than the failure modes of carbon fiber composites under tension. The capacity of such vessels for compression vs. tension is so comparatively low that it would be deemed effectively zero in most cases.