TITLE:
Development of a Side Door Composite Impact Beam for the Automotive Industry
AUTHORS:
Vinay Papaiya, Jens Schuster, Yousuf Pasha Shaik
KEYWORDS:
Side-Door Impact Beam, Impact Energy Absorption, Carbon-Aramid Reinforcement, VARTM
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Composite Materials,
Vol.14 No.1,
November
30,
2023
ABSTRACT: The automobile industry has been searching for vehicles that use less energy and emit fewer pollutants, which has resulted in a high demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. Because of their higher strength-to-weight ratio compared to traditional steel, using fiber-reinforcement composite materials in automobile bodies has emerged as the most effective strategy for improving fuel efficiency while maintaining safety standards. This research paper examined the utilization of fiber-reinforced composite materials in car bodies to meet the increasing consumer demand for fuel-efficient and eco-friendly vehicles. It particularly focused on a carbon-aramid fiber-reinforced composite impact beam for passenger car side door impact protection. Despite the encouraging prospects of the carbon-aramid fiber-reinforced beam, the research uncovered substantial defects in the fabrication process, resulting in diminished load-bearing capacity and energy absorption. As a result, the beam was un-successful in three-point bending tests. This was accomplished by using an I cross-section design with varying thickness because of the higher area moment of inertia. Vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) manufacturing process was used and the finished beam underwent to three-point bending tests.