Abstract
A fuel tank of a vehicle is an important part due to its flammable contents ant its importance during crash conditions. Therefore, the fuel tank's design should be assessed for durability and robustness to ensure safety during the early development phase. Previously, evaluation for the durability was done by testing in physical driving conditions which could only be done after the completion of the vehicle. Computation simulation is a more effective method to evaluate the strength and durability of the fuel tank during the early stage. In this paper, two outstanding computational simulation methods are studied. One evaluates PV cycle fatigue due to build up pressure in the fuel tank and the other evaluates the PSD vibration fatigue from modal characteristics. The results show that computational methods agree with physical tests and are thus suitable to analyze the strength and durability of the fuel tank at early development phase.
