Numerical Structural Design and Optimization of Free-Form Hydrogen Vessels in the Context of Metal-Organic Frameworks

Development regarding storage solutions for hydrogen is crucial to enable its widespread adoption as a sustainable energy carrier especially in the mobility and transportation sector. The application of Metal-Organic Frameworks in carbon fiber composite wound pressure vessels leads to a reduction in operating pressures and allow both a cost and CO2 footprint reduction by enabling glass fiber as a valid material choice and the exploration of free form tank designs in order to better utilize challenging design spaces in automotive vehicles. This study explores the capabilities and limitations of these tank designs using numerical multi stage optimization in LS-OPT in conjunction with LS-DYNA, BETA CAE, MATLAB and Python for the fully automated, detailed optimization of the geometry and laminate of these tanks.