Research on carbon fiber-reinforced plastic bumper beam subjected to low-velocity frontal impact

Abstract

Lightweight and safety performance of automobiles are two important factors for automobile designs. In this article, a research on lightweight and crashworthiness of automotive bumper has been conducted. The carbon fiber-reinforced plastic bumper beam is considered to replace the traditional high-strength steel one. The low-velocity impact finite element simulations for the above two bumper beams are performed via LS-DYNA. Furthermore, the energy absorption capabilities and dynamic response characteristics of the carbon fiber-reinforced plastic bumper beam are investigated and compared with the steel one. The results show that the carbon fiber-reinforced plastic bumper beam is of the better energy absorption capabilities and dynamic response characteristics than those of the steel one; the weight has decreased remarkably close to 50%. Meanwhile, the effect of lay-up and wall thickness on the crashworthiness of the carbon fiber-reinforced plastic bumper beam under low-velocity impact is also studied in this article to select appropriate design schemes.