Polymer foam core aluminum sandwich lightweight car hood for pedestrian protection

Abstract

In this study, various sandwich structures were designed for application in car hoods to reduce the pedestrian head injuries. In the sandwich panels, the face sheets were made of thin aluminum and steel plates, and the core materials were chosen to be of polymer foams. Polymer foams have high energy absorbing performance under impact loading. They can be unflammable and resistive to high-temperatures, depending on the base polymer. The main goal of the presented study is to develop a sandwich structure for car hood to reduce fatality in the pedestrian-car accidents by decreasing the value of head injury criterion. Sandwich panel face sheet, polymer foam core thickness, and two different face sheet material were studied as research parameters using the finite element analysis. The pedestrian headform was modeled according to EEVC/WG17 regulations and used in the finite element simulations. The lightest hood and the minimum head injury criterion value have been achieved using the thinner steel front face and the thicker foam core.