A New End-Closure Design for DOT-4BA Propane Cylinders

This study presents a new end-closure design, using a numerical approach, to eliminate the buckling that occurs at the bottom end of DOT-4BA propane cylinders. When the bottom heads are subjected to test pressure they often buckle, which causes instability of the propane cylinders. That instability is the cylinder’s loss of upright standing. The buckling was predicted using both experimental and numerical approaches, and a proposed solution to prevent the failure by increasing the material was previously reported. An alternative end closure design is developed in this study to eliminate the end buckling without changing the material. In order to model the new end, a computer-aided finite element analysis (FEA) design tool was employed. Two different FEA models, 2D plane and 3D shell, were created and simulated in nonlinear conditions. The results obtained from the simulations are compared to previous corresponding studies.