Influence of Environmental Temperature on the Fatigue Strength of Type 3 Compressed-Hydrogen Tanks

The environmental temperature where vehicles are used varies significantly by region and season, so this study investigated the influence of environmental temperature on the fatigue life of compressed hydrogen tanks for vehicles (Type 3). Pressure-cycle tests with varying environmental temperature were conducted on tanks until the tank was failed. Results indicated that fatigue life decreased in low-temperature environments and improved in high-temperature environments. We investigated the cause of such results using the strains inside and outside the tank and other indexes and found that the effect of autofrettage varied as environmental temperature changed, due to the difference between the thermal expansion rate of CFRP and that of aluminum alloy. Thus, we concluded that fatigue life changed according to changes in environmental temperature.