ABSTRACT

The project focuses on the design and stress analysis of a car frontal protection system (Bumper) simulations. To achieve that, we go to basic concepts of improving the safety on the car by do analysis the car bumper. It is important to know their mechanical properties, how their failure mechanism during the impact. This analysis was carrying out by using commercial Finite Elements software (ALGOR) to evaluate the behavior of bumper system. Another additional innovative for improving crashworthiness is the use of material to produces the part to absorb Energy during the process of a crash. Research concentrates on polymer composite material. It is considering their function, geometry, and other parameters that influence the compatibility of the bumper. In future research, this bumper will face the static test and analyses do on their load distributions by applying the variation of load and locations. Result will be compare for the centre and side load. How the load applied effect the stress distribution. After that a related study was carried out to know bumper properties during the impact. Bumpers play an important role in preventing theimpact energy from being transferred to the automobile and passengers. Saving the impact energy in the bumper to be released in the environment reduces the damages of the automobile and passengers

Bumper car
It is the generic name for a type of flat ride consisting of several small electric cars which draw power from the floor and/or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator]. They are also known as bumping cars, dashing cars, dodgem cars, or simply dodgems, the last name being the usual term in British English.

Design
Power is commonly supplied by one of two methods:

The oldest and most common method uses a conductive floor and ceiling, each with a separate power polarity. Contacts under the vehicle touch the floor while a pole mounted contact touches the ceiling, forming a complete circuit.

newer method uses alternating strips of metal across the floor separated by insulating spacers, and no ceiling grid. The alternating strips carry the supply current, and the bumper cars are large enough so that the vehicle body can always cover at least two strips at any one time. An array of brushes under the car make random contact with whatever strip is below, and the voltage polarity on each contact is sorted out to always provide a correct and complete circuit to operate the vehicle.

The metal floor is usually set up as a rectangular or oval track, and graphite is sprinkled on the floor to decrease friction. A rubber bumper surrounds each vehicle, and drivers ram each other as they travel. The controls are usually an accelerator and a steering wheel.

The car necessary in the frequent pile-ups that occur. Most carnivals and amusement parks require riders to be at least 42 inches or taller to ride and 52 inches (1.3 m) or taller to drive the cars.

Although the idea of the ride is to bump other cars, safety-conscious (or at least litigationconscious) owners often put up signs reading "This way around" and "No bumping." Depending on the level of enforcement by operators, these rules are often ignored by bumper car riders, especially younger children.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Nowadays, in development of technology especially in engineering field make among the engineers more creative and competitive in designing or creating new product. They must be precise and showing careful attentions on what they produce. Here, we concentrate on automotive industry. The greatest demand facing the automotive industry has been to provide safer vehicles with high fuel efficiency at minimum cost. Current automotive vehicle structures have one fundamental handicap, a short crumple zone for crash energy absorption One of the options to reduce energy consumption is weight reduction. However, the designer should be aware that in order to reduce the weight, the safety of the car passenger must not be sacrificed. A new invention in technology material was introduced with polymeric based composite materials, which offer high specific stiffness, low weight, corrosion free, and ability to produce complex shapes, high specific strength, and high impact energy absorption [1]. Substitution of polymeric based composite material in car components was successfully implemented in the quest for fuel and weight reduction. Among the components in the automotive industry substituted by polymeric based composite materials are the bumper beam, bumper fascia, spoiler, connecting rod, pedal box system, and door inner panel. The bumper system consists of three main components, namely bumper beam, fascia and energy absorber. The automotive body is one of the critical subsystems of an automobile, and it carries out multiple functions. It should hold the parts of the vehicle together and serve to filter noise and vibration. Additionally, it should be able to protect its occupants when accidents happen. To do this, the automotive body designer should

create a structure with significant levels of strength, stiffness, and energy absorption [2, 3].

Figure 1: Based composite material bumper Proton Pesona

BUMPER DESIGN FOR VEHICLE SAFETY

Because of these limitations, the fatality rate increases dramatically in high speed impacts. In order to design a successful lightweight vehicle and significantly improve the crash performance of current cars, technological development is still needed. If the automotive body could extend its front end during or right before a crash, the mechanism of absorbing the crash energy would be totally different from that of the passive structure. During a frontal crash, the front side member is expected to fold progressively, so as to absorb more energy and to ensure enough passenger space. To do so, various cross sections and shapes have been investigated for the front rail of the automotive body to maximize crashworthiness and weight efficiency; their design included reinforcing the cross-section.

For several decades, bumper design has focused on material and structure. Anderson et al. (2002) [5] investigated the applicability of stainless steel for crash-absorbing bumpers to increase crash performance in automotive vehicles. Butler (2002) [6] studied the design of efficient epoxy structural foam reinforcements to increase the 9 energy absorbed in front and rear automotive bumper beams. Carley (2004) [7] introduced Expanded Polypropylene (EPP) foam technologies and techniques for bumper systems. Cheon et al. (1995) [8] developed a new composite bumper that has two pads at each end of the bumper. Evans and Morgan (1999) [9] studied thermoplastic energy absorbers for bumpers.

Figure 2: Automotive bumper system component

II.BUMPER MODEL DESIGN

There are several models and systems for bumpers ofpassenger cars [15]. Traditional models have corrugated open section areas for installing some car elements and increasingbending strength of the bumper. Main parts of theconventional bumper systems are depicted in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 Configuration of common bumper type

1. Fascia: bumper fascias must be aerodynamic, lightweight and aesthetically pleasing to the consumer. Usuallyfascias are made of polypropylene, polyurethane orpolycarbonate.

2. Energy absorbers: energy absorbers are designed to absorb a portion of the kinetic energy From vehicle collision.Its types include foam, honeycomb and mechanical ones. However mechanical absorbers have several times the weightof foam and honey comb

Absorber, they receive limited usage.

3. Reinforcing beam: this part is a key component of thebumper and helps absorb the kinetic energy and provideprotection to the rest of the vehicle. The designed bumper in this research is a combination ofthese element. In other words, in low-speed contacts, the kinetic energy of impact or is absorbed by changing the impactforce direction by the spring system (as mechanical energy absorbers) and in high speed contacts it is absorbed bydeformation of conic composite cells of the bumper (asreinforcing beam).The main elements of this bumper are as follows (see Fig. 1. Front rubber tape: that is composed of polypropylene(PEP) for damping of poor Contacts. 2. Fascia: it indicates the aerodynamic form of the bumper 3. Spring system: it contains 26 vertical springs forconverting the kinetic energy to the spring potential energy, In addition to 4 horizontal springs for connecting the fascia tobase plate.

4. Conics and base plate: they are main elements of thebumper for energy absorbing in high speed contacts (i.e. reinforcing beam).

5. Connecting plastic parts: two propylene (PEP) parts thatconnect the bumper base plate to the car.

So, it absorbs kinetic energy in the form of spring potentialenergy. Also, two small areas Between the cover edge and themiddle part of the cover have designed with thinner thicknesses (i.e. there are two lateral notch at the top andbottom corners of the cover), which guarantee easier deformation rather than the other parts of the cover, so, the cover edges movements mechanism is completely predictedand in control. For high speed contacts, the cover reaches the conics and they deforms as a composed part. There is aconcavity in the cover where the plastic tape seats on andincreases the bending strength of the bumper.

Fig. 3 section view of bumper cover and spring movement during Frontal impact

INTRODUCTION TO PRO-E

INTRODUCTION TO CAD
CAD is the term which means computer-aided design. It is a technology concerned with the use of computers to perform certain functions in Design and Production. This technology is moving in the direction of greater integration of design and manufacturing which was earlier treated as distinct and separate function in a production firm. Ultimately CAD will provide the technology base for the computer-integrated factory of the future. Computer-aided design(CAD) can be defined as the use of computer system to assist in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. The computer system consists of the hardware and software to perform the specialized design functions required by particular use firm. The CAD hardware typically includes the computer, one or more graphics display terminals, keyboards, and other peripheral equipment. The CAD software consists of the computer programs to implement computer graphics on the system plus application programs to facilitate the engineering functions of the user company. Examples of these application programs include stress-strain analysis of components, dynamic response of mechanisms, heat transfer calculations, and numerical control part programming. The collection of application programs will vary from one user firm to the next because their product lines, manufacturing processes, and customer markets are different. These factors raise the difference in CAD system requirements. The computer has grown to be essential in the operations of business, government, the military, engineering, and research. It also demonstrated itself, especially in recent years, to be very powerful tool in design and manufacturing . Modern computers systems are based on interactive computer graphics (ICG). Interactive computer graphics denote a user-oriented system in which the computer is employed to create, transform, and display data in the form of pictures and symbols. The user in the computer graphics design system in the designer, who communicates data and commands to the computer through and several input devices. It is important to note that ICG system is one main component of computer-aided design system, the other major component is human designer.

The evolution of computer-aided design has been largely related to developments in computer graphics. ICG forms the essential technological foundation for computer-aided design. One of the significant initial projects in the area of computer graphics was the development of the APT language. APT is the acronym of Automatically Programmed Tools.Before examining the several facts of computer-aided design. Let us first consider the general design process. The process of designing something is characterized as an iterative procedure, which consists of six identifiable steps of phases. 1) Recognition of need 2) Definition of problem 3) Synthesis 4) Analysis and Optimization 5) Evaluation 6) Presentation Hardware components for computer-aided design are available in a variety of sizes, configurations and capabilities. Hence it is possible to select a CAD system that meets the particular computational and graphics requirements of the user firm. Engineering firms that are not involved in production would chose a system exclusively for drafting and design-related functions. Computers also include nongraphic applications of the computer in deisgn work. These consistes of engineering results which are best displayed in order than graphical form. Nongraphic hardware can employee to create rough images on a piece of paper by appropriate combinations of characters and symbols. The CAD workstation is the system interface with the outside world. It represents a significant factor in determining how convenient and efficient it is for a designer to use the CAD system. The workstation must accomplish five functions. 1) It must interface with the central processing unit. 2) It must generate a study graphic image for the user. 3) It must provide digital displacement of graphic image.

Creo

Elements/Pro

(formerly

Pro/ENGINEER),

PTC's

parametric,

integrated

3D

CAD/CAM/CAE solution, is used by discrete manufacturers for mechanical engineering, design and manufacturing. Created by Dr. Samuel P. Geisberg in the mid-1980s, Pro/ENGINEER was the industry's first successful rule-based constraint (sometimes called "parametric" or "variational") 3D CAD modeling system. The parametric modeling approach uses parameters, dimensions, features, and relationships to capture intended product behavior and create a recipe which enables design automation and the optimization of design and product development processes. This design approach is used by companies whose product strategy is family-based or platform-driven, where a prescriptive design strategy is fundamental to the success of the design process by embedding engineering constraints and relationships to quickly optimize the design, or where the resulting geometry may be complex or based upon equations. Creo Elements/Pro provides a complete set of design, analysis and manufacturing capabilities on one, integral, scalable platform. These required capabilities include Solid Modeling, Surfacing, Rendering, Data Interoperability, Routed Systems Design, Simulation, Tolerance Analysis, and NC and Tooling Design. Companies use Creo Elements/Pro to create a complete 3D digital model of their products. The models consist of 2D and 3D solid model data which can also be used downstream in finite element analysis, rapid prototyping, tooling design, and CNC manufacturing. All data is associative and interchangeable between the CAD, CAE and CAM modules without conversion. A product and its entire bill of materials (BOM) can be modeled accurately with fully associative engineering drawings, and revision control information. The associativity functionality in Creo Elements/Pro enables users to make changes in the design at any time during the product development process and automatically update downstream deliverables. This capability enables concurrent engineering design, analysis and manufacturing engineers working in parallel and streamlines product development processes. Creo Elements/Pro is a software application within the CAID/CAD/CAM/CAE category, along with other similar products currently on the market.

Creo Elements/Pro is a parametric, feature-based modeling architecture incorporated into a single database philosophy with advanced rule-based design capabilities. It provides in-depth control of complex geometry, as exemplified by the trajpar parameter. The capabilities of the product can be split into the three main headings of Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing. This data is then documented in a standard 2D production drawing or the 3D drawing standard. Engineering Design Creo Elements/Pro offers a range of tools to enable the generation of a complete digital representation of the product being designed. In addition to the general geometry tools there is also the ability to generate geometry of other integrated design disciplines such as industrial and standard pipe work and complete wiring definitions. Tools are also available to support collaborative development. A number of concept design tools that provide up-front Industrial Design concepts can then be used in the downstream process of engineering the product. These range from conceptual Industrial design sketches, reverse engineering with point cloud data and comprehensive freeform surface tools.

SKETCH USED IN MAKING CAR BUMPER

EXTRUDE THE ABOVE SKETCH

SKETCH THE FOLLOWING SECTION TO MAKE HOLE

REMOVE THE MATERIAL

SKETCH THE FOLLOWING SHAPE

EXTRUDE THE SKETCH

COMPLETE DESIGN OF CAR BUMPER

III. MESHING AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

Explicit method is a fast method for short time problems, complicated contact and impact Problems and multiple nonlinearities large deformations (Dynamic & quasi static) inLS-Dyna. The PRO E 5.0 of the bumper model was imported to LS-Dyna Anys8.0. Then, meshing has created on a 3D model. Since the average thickness of the cover, conics and base plate is much smaller than the other dimensions of the part, the best element for meshing was the shell element (Shell163). Membrane Blystchstchko-Tsy method was used for solution. (it is a fast method for membrane problems andcomposite material with corrugated surface). Solid 164elements were used for imp actor, plastic parts and plastic front rubber meshing.Theimpactor as a steel structure was modeled by isotropicrigid pyramid solid impact elements. Spring-damper element (Combi 165) was used for spring system modeling. Each plastic part is attached to the car body by screws at fourpoints. Hence, on the model, one-eighth of the car weight was attached to each screwed node as a point mass element (Mass166).

There is no external force on the elements and no frictionwas assumed between the imp actor and the bumper surfaces and the car was taken to be laying on a flat and frictionless surface and all other conditions were drawing from American Traffic Safety Administration (49 CFR. Part 581, BumperStandard). All degrees of freedoms of the corresponding nodes on the bumper, plastic parts and plastic tape (screwpoints) were coupled Andmerged.Finally meshing of different parts of the bumper with adequate numbers of elements Have done by Mapped method.FEM specifications and element types used for the main parts Of the bumper are tabulated in Table 1 and Fig. 4:

Introduction to ANSYS
Starting ANSYS: The ANSYS graphical user interface can be started by selecting the ANSYS icon located in the ANSYS 8.1 folder.

Selecting the ANSYS icon will take you directly to the graphical user interface.

ANSYS Graphical User Interface: After starting ANSYS, two windows will appear. The first is the ANSYS 8.1 Output Window:

This window displays a listing of every command that ANSYS executes. If you encounter problems, this is a good place to look to see what ANSYS is doing or has done. This is one location where you will find all of the warnings and error messages that appear and the command that generated the warning/error. The second window is the ANSYS ResearchFS graphical user interface. This is divided into 4 sections (shown on next page):
1. ANSYS Utility Menu 2. ANSYS Toolbar Menu 3. ANSYS Main Menu 4. Display window

Each section will be discussed in further detail below.

Within this menu, you can perform file operations, list and plot items, and change display options.

File Drop-down Menu The File drop-down menu includes the options to clear the database, change, resume, and save the current model.

Clear and Start New deletes the current database. It does not clear the log or error files. Change Jobname changes the name of the database and associated files.

The next time you save, it will write everything to the current jobname. It will not delete the previous jobname or associated files.

Note: unless you check the box for New log and error files, it will continue to write to the current log and error files. Change Directory allows you to switch directories where the files are being saved.

Resume Jobname.db and Resume from allows you to open a model that has already been saved. Note: If you resume a file, ANSYS does not automatically switch the current jobname to the name of the file you resumed from. Change the jobname otherwise you may write over another model. Save as Jobname.db and Save as allow you to save the model. If you choose save as it will save the file as a different name. If you do not change the jobname, the next time you save it will overwrite the current jobname and not the save as file name.

List Pull-down Menu The list pull-down menu allows you to view the log and error files, obtain a listing of geometric entities, elements and their properties, nodes, and boundary conditions and loads applied to the model.

This menu allows you to view the log and error files. The log file is a summary of every command performed in ANSYS while the error file may provide insight into troubleshooting problems with the model/analysis. These list the geometric entities and their components. Selecting the Nodes and Elements listings are easy methods to determine the number of nodes and elements in the model. Plot Pull-down Menu: This pull-down menu allows you to plot the various components of the model such as key points, areas, volumes and elements.

Use the plot elements command to obtain the mesh plot.

PlotCtrls Pull-Down Menu This menu includes the controls to pan/zoom/rotate your model, select the numbering options, change styles and generate hard copies of the plots.

This pops up a window allowing you to pan, zoom and rotate the model.

The Numbering selection allows you to turn on/off the keypoint, lines, areas, volumes, nodes and element numbering.

The Hard Copy selection sends the plot to a printer or image file. ANSYS Toolbar

If you get a message reporting that the percent error cannot be calculated with powergraphics turned on, click the POWRGRPH button to turn off powergraphics.

ANSYS Main Menu The ANSYS Main Menu contains all of the commands to create, mesh, apply loads, solve, and view results of the FE analysis. The Main Menu is divided into sections that sequentially follow the steps involved in an analysis.

Select the element types to be used. Multiple types may be selected and applied to a model. Input the material properties. Multiple materials may be entered and applied to a model. Use the modeling options to create the model.

Note: ANSYS uses a hierarchy for modeling: keypoints (lowest) lines areas volumes (highest) If you create a volume, all of the areas, lines and keypoints will be automatically created for you.

Use the meshing options to mesh the model. To delete mistakes, choose the Delete menu under Modeling. It is important to select the right option. For example, if you select Areas Only, the area will be deleted but the lines and keypoints that make up that area will remain. If you select Areas and Below, it will delete the area plus the lines and keypoints that define the area. NOTE: there is not an undo button in ANSYS, once deleted, the component must be re-created.

Choose the type of analysis to perform. Apply loads and boundary conditions to the model. Solve the model.

Post Processing

Plot contour or vector plots of results. Lists the percent error. If you get a message Cannot view percent error with powergraphics on, click the powergraphics button on the ANSYS Toolbar to turn it off. List the results for every node. This can be used to get the maximum and minimum values of results.

IV. MODEL ANALYSIS

The results of some investigations by Tao & Yu [17-19] identified that the grid-domed cellular structure possesses the highest specific energy absorbing capacity among so many cell Configurations (including circular and square tubularknitted, multi-layer 3D woven, non-woven Suspended and grid-domed cells) under both quasi-static compression andimpact conditions. In addition, other geometrical factors onthese flat-tapped cellular composites that govern the Energy absorbing capacity, including cell height, diameter ratio ofcell-top to cell-bottom, Projected wall area, cell density and component content have also been optimized [17] Fig. 5 Shows a cross section of this cellular structure. Fig. 5 Schematic geometry of a basic grid-domed cellular structure

In this research an impact test has simulated (with the sametest conditions that S.W. Lam has Implemented [18]) for the grid-domed cell with GMT in AnsysLs-Dyna, and the extra properties And the impact energy absorption capacity of GMThave been identified. The GMT with 30%Volume fraction (V.F.) has less peak loads and more toughness in comparison with the GMT with 40% V.F. (see Fig. 6)

Fig. 6 Absorbed energy Normal displacement of GMT grid-domed Cellular sample under impact

So, the GMT with 30% V.F. with similar dimensions as usual car dampers has used for the first Try of design and analysis. In accordance with the standard of straight front a impact test, the Mass of imp actor must be equal to net camass. So, initial kinetic energy of the imp actor (as a Result fits initial velocity) could be derived as in (1): The objective of the spring design is to completely absorbthe above (1) kinetic energy as the cover reaches the conic sand its edges are opened and the springs are in maximumextension Length. In other words, the total impact energyshould be used for cover change from stage 1 to Stage 2 which also cause the springs to extend simultaneously (See Fig. 7).

Fig. 7 cover movements and spring extension: stage 1-2

In the case which there are no springs, thus there isnt anyresistance forces on the cover edges, the simulation shows that in changing from stage 1 to stage 2, the vertical displacement of the cover edges are more than 6 cm. in this case, stressesare negligible, except in a small area Between the cover edge and the middle part of the cover (i.e. elastic hinges) and all deformations are completely elastic, so absorbed energy is negligible too.

Related to the stages 1 & 2 and numbers of conics, prescribed parameters are: (springs displacement) and ns(number of springs in the system) which are held betweenconics. Other Parameters are identified by utilizing a genetic algorithm with the consideration on the minimum Weightofspring system (and so minimum weight of bumper).Mathematical model of the problem Will be as in equation(2) to (5):

1. Variable vector

In which N is the number of active coils, D is mean spring diameter and d is spring wire diameter.

1. Objective function

2.Equal boundary condition equation

3.Non equal boundary condition equations

Today, what is interesting related of this research is now an innovative inflatable bumper concept, called the I-bumper, is developed in this research for improved crashworthiness and safety of military and commercial vehicles. The developed I-bumper has several active structural components, including a morphing mechanism, a movable bumper, two explosive airbags, and a morphing lattice structure with a locking mechanism that provides desired rigidity and energy absorption capability during a collision. Another additional innovative means for improving crashworthiness is the use of tubes filled with a granular material to absorb energy during the process of a crash.

Then stress distributions on vertical and horizontal path taken at time intervals of 0.25 s shown in

Fig. 15 & Fig. 16 respectively.

The maximum stress distribution occurs at t=0.052 s which correspond with the time that cover reaches to the conics. On vertical path, the stresses are a combination of compression in Longitudinal& lateral directions and tension in lateral direction. Maximum Von Misses stress Occurs at location 4 since the elements are under compression on the contacting surface with the Imp actor and under tension on the lateral direction. The next extremes are for points 2 and 6 Because of stress concentration due to relative sharp corner and implemented notch (hinge) respectively. Points 7, 8 & 9 are those on the cover edge after the hinge and hence yielding

Von Misses stresses of nearly zero. In horizontal path, stresses are more tension than compression and also stress wave fluctuate and decreases along the path from the center of the

Bumper to each side. Safety factor can be derived with the aid of maximum Von Misses stress and GMT yield strength.

By utilizing this concept, the safety factor in vertical path has shown in Fig. 17. Minimum value occurs at point 4 and is about 1.5 that is generally satisfactory.

1.2 MATERIAL PROPERTIES

The common use of the term stress analysis includes any kind of structural analysis. In the field of thermoplastics design, there is a growing awareness of the importance of stress analysis. In many years, plastics have been used for applications in load-bearing structural components in the automotive, aerospace, sporting, and construction industries. Hence, design engineers are Increasingly concerned about stress-related problems, typically with the strength, stiffness and life expectancy of their products. About many years ago, these problems were primarily associated with the metallic components. Stress analysis has always been interdisciplinary, because an effective analysis needs to bring together a thorough knowledge of the operating characteristic of the product,

Material behavior, structural behavior and solid mechanics. Structural plastics design is a field that is evolving in the same manner as did the aero-space and nuclear power industries. That is, a sequence of products innovations, and better methods of design and analysis continuously reinforce each other and lead to the optimum design of the product. Stress analysis is a vital activity in this process. From the point of view of stress analysis, are the thermoplastics very different from metals? The answer is yes and no. Yes, because a few types of behaviors of thermoplastic materials call for advanced techniques of analysis, because such behaviors are encountered only in special applications of metals. No, because several calculations and test procedures for characterizing the mechanical properties of thermoplastics are very similar to those of metals. Thus such stress analysis is also similar. Material properties of plastics such as elastic modulus, yield point, tensile strength and fracture toughness are understood, measured and used in a manner similar to those for metals. Many structural plastics design may be

performed using the familiar strength of material approach. Likewise detailed stress analyses of plastic components are performed assuming linear elastic behavior

1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT

From the previous research or analysis on car bumper, basically they focus on the design and crashworthiness optimization. However, for this analysis just focusing on the stress analysis on car bumper by applying various loads on the static condition only. In the real situation, there is much point that bumper mounting to the car which make it stronger or can absorb more energy during the impact. For the simulation, just take fixed point both end of the bumper. Only the Fascia part of the bumper will take into account.

1.4 OBJECTIVES AND SCOPES

a) To analyze the mechanical properties on front part (fascia) of car bumper:

i.

To analyze on mechanical properties focus on stress analysis

ii.

To modeling the actual dimension of the car bumper into the

Solid Work software and analyze by using FE software (ALGOR).

iii.

To investigate polymer composite material bumper (Proton

Persona) based on their geometry and other parameters that

Influence the compatibility of car bumper.

b) To evaluate failure mechanism of the car bumper:

i.

To study the load distribution on the bumper either it is uniformly

Distributes to all the part during the analysis.

ii.

To predict the critical point.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 PARAMETER CONSIDERED

Basically in car collisions, most of energy is dissipated by body deformation. But the things is depending on the type of collision, members are loaded axially and by bending or a combination all of that. Axially loaded members will normally dissipate a substantial part of the energy during a front collision. Some energy may be observed for such members, which normally collapse by folding and bending of the plate elements composing the component. Small variation in geometry, material properties as well as boundary and loading conditions can produce this scatter in the result. We will analysis how this parameter can effect and to reduce energy dissipation and thus to prevent more damage during the collision [5]. Engineers today emphasize robust behavior of the energy-dissipating structure. So they must very wall in decide the variation in the material, geometry, loading and boundary conditions. Hence, the automotive industry uses finite element analysis in order to reduce the lead time to develop a new product and cost.

Research from the American Iron and Steel Institute on bumper compatibility stated that the difference in heights and weights between these two types of vehicles (and indeed averagesized cars and trucks) creates an advantage for the heavier and/or taller vehicle when in a collision. A bumper is designed to absorb the energy of a low speed impact with another vehicle, while an incompatible structure such as a headlight, or even a hood in some cases, is not. When a bumper strikes an object that is not designed for impact, the bumper will sustain less damage and

inflict much more damage on the soft item. Bumpers need to hit each other squarely to serve their purpose

2.2 FUNCTION
A bumper is a shield made any of material like steel, aluminum, rubber or plastic that is mounted on the front and rear of passenger car. The function is when a low speed collision occurs, the bumper system absorbs the shock to prevent or reduce damage to the car. Some bumper use energy absorbers or brackets and others made with foam cushioning material. The car bumper is design to prevent or reduce physical damage to the front car. It is also design to protect the hood, trunk, grille, fuel, exhaust and cooling system besides the engine. It is not safety feature intended to prevent or mitigate injury to occupants in the passenger cars.

Bumper car rides are designed so that the cars can collide without much danger to the riders. Each car has a large rubber bumper all around it, which prolongs the impact and diffuses the force of the collision. The bumper cars run on electricity, carried by a pole on the back of the car that leads up to a wire grid in the ride's ceiling. This grid carries the electricity that runs the car. Electrical energy carried to the cars from the grid is converted to kinetic energy, some of which is converted to heat.

2.3 GEOMETRY

Bumpers are structural components installed to reduce physical damage to the front and rear ends of a passenger motor vehicle from low-speed collisions. Damage and protection assessments are the commonly used design criteria in bumper design. For damage assessment, the relative displacements representing stiffness performance are defined and examined. At the protodesign stage for a new car, finite element (FE) analysis is often utilized to predict the stiffness of a bumper. However, conventional bumper analysis through FEM outputs a constant

stiffness even though the stiffness has some distribution due to uncertainties. The uncertainties are assumed to be the tolerances of thicknesses. Under this uncertain condition, the displacements representing stiffness are calculated by approximate statistics and by worst-case analysis. Then, a robust design is determined by design of experiments (DOE) using the orthogonal array strategy to find the design having a minimum weight of bumper within the stiffness constraints

Steel can be used to effectively absorb impacts, but when the impact structures are set at different heights and the bumpers do not hit each other squarely, then the bumpers of each vehicle are not going to behave optimally. The height disparity can cause unnecessary damage to the lower vehicle and, more importantly, the occupants of the lower vehicle. Having considered all of these facts, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has voluntarily agreed to alleviate Vehicle Incompatibility all together by 2009. All vehicles made by BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota and Volkswagen will be compatible (they will also have a variety of other safety features per this agreement). But what is compatible? The AAM defines compatibility as having the majority of the Primary Energy Absorbing Structure within sixteen to twenty inches of the ground

Figure 4: Cross section of the bumper system technology

Car Bumper Components

Automobile car bumpers have the important function of lessening low- or high-speed impacts from the front or rear of the vehicle. Numerous designs come equipped on

various makes and models with different components and features. Yet they all serve the same function: protecting the occupants of the vehicle from traumatic shock during a collision or lessening body damage to the vehicle by absorbing collision force. Some bumpers have extremely technical features and designs.

Mounting Bolts, Spacers and Washers

Sometimes called bumper "lug nuts," the mounting bolts used for securing the steel bumper frame to the chassis, have extremely heavy construction, with large-diameter bores and coarse threads. Typically made of high-tensile steel, the bolts have thick spacers and locking washers to secure them in place. Some vehicles can have as few as four mounting bolts, while others might have up to 10 or 12.

Bumper Frame

The bumper frame, typically made of steel, stretches from one side of the vehicle to the other, making it the largest and heaviest piece of all the bumper components. The bumper frame sits between the vehicle chassis and the outside bumper cover, serving as the main impact component. On older vehicles, the bumpers were designed to crush completely upon impact; they had extremely heavy construction and often had chrome plating.

Bumper Brackets and Support-Brace Rods

Bumper brackets come in a variety of shapes and sizes for the different makes and models. Cast of angular steel, the brackets connect the bumper frame to the vehicle chassis frame. Some cars have two large adjustable brackets on each end, whereas heavier trucks might have four. Bumper support rods, made of solid steel rod, connect the chassis frame to the outside ends of the bumper frame and serve as extra braces. They

guard against outside angular impacts, where the bumper end can become crushed or forced inward.

Crush Cans and Absorbers

Crush cans and absorbers function as impact dampeners that mount between the bumper frame and the chassis. They can incorporate thick fiber pads, rubber bushings, high-impact plastic or polystyrene. Their design allows them to crush or give upon impact, allowing the bumper frame to flex inward with minimal damage.

Bumper Guards

Bumper guards, usually two rectangular rubber blocks that sit near each of the bumper's outer ends, serve as the first impact components on the bumper. Constructed of pliable, solid rubber, the bumper guards bolt to the bumper frame---usually with two bolts. Bumper guards extend outward from the bumper surface as much as 4 to 6 inches, which ensures that they make contact with an object before any other bumper component.

Bumper Shocks

Many foreign-make and newer vehicles come equipped with shock tubes mounted between the bumper and the chassis, instead of using the crush can or absorber. Some bumper shocks have spring-loaded tubes that allow high impact, allowing them to rebound when struck. The entire bumper can travel backward with the impact and rebound back into position. Some bumper shocks function with gas or hydraulic-operated tubes, performing the same function as the spring-type bumper shock.

. Bumper Trim Strips

Instead of using protruding solid bumper guards, some car and heavy truck bumpers come equipped with inset bumper trim strips constructed of high-impact polyethylene

plastic. The trim strip extends from one end of the bumper to the other, usually bisecting a chrome bumper through the middle. Extending 1/2-inch or so outward from the bumper face, the trim strip makes first contact with any object, protecting the finish of the bumper. They also serve as decorative trim pieces.

. Bumper Covers

Bumper covers, constructed of high-impact plastic or rubber, usually have one-piece designs that bolt or screw onto the bumper frame. They serve as the covering or outer shell of the entire bumper surface, and sometimes match the color of the vehicle. They can be insulated with foam, or consist of solid, molded pieces. Primarily designed to serve as the bumpers decorative outside covering, they provide a minimal amount of impact protection.

Some bumpers have mounting holes and brackets for lower turn signals and fog lamps, along with mounting holes for license plate brackets.

. What Are Car Bumpers Made Of?

Although the makeup of car bumpers has changed over the years, this vital component of your vehicle plays an integral role in modern transportation safety. Bumpers protect the vital components on your car by reducing collision damage.

History

Frederick Simms invented the car bumper in 1901. The first car bumpers were made of metal beams attached to both the front and rear of a car for the purpose of protecting a car in a low-speed collision.

Materials

Generally, car bumpers are made of a plastic cover reinforced by a bar made of steel, fiberglass composite, plastic or aluminum. In addition to crushable brackets and a bar, bumpers sometimes incorporate polypropylene foam or formed thermoplastic. These additional components act as spacers between the bumper and bar, not as energy absorbers.

Importance

Bumpers protect important equipment on your car such as headlights, taillights, hood and exhaust and cooling systems. These components are all expensive to replace, and a bumper can eliminate or reduce the costs of repairing them.

Attributes

The attributes of a good car bumper include geometry, energy absorption and stability. These traits allow a bumper to line up flush with an opposing bumper in order to absorb any impact and maintain stability.

Types

While most bumpers have a standard design to protect important components on a car, some are designed for style. This emphasis on style often reduces a bumper's, resulting in decreased effectiveness in resisting damage during a crash.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES

The common use of the term stress analysis includes any kind of structural analysis. In the field of thermoplastics design, there is a growing awareness of the importance of stress analysis. In many years, plastics have been used for applications in load-bearing structural components in the automotive, aerospace, sporting, and construction industries. Hence, design engineers are 5 increasingly concerned about stress-related problems, typically with the strength, stiffness and life expectancy of their products. About many years ago, these problems were primarily associated with the metallic components.

Stress analysis has always been inter disciplinary, because an effective analysis needs to bring together a thorough knowledge of the operating characteristic of the product, material behavior, structural behavior and solid mechanics. Structural plastics design is a field that is evolving in the same manner as did the aero-space and nuclear power industries. That is, a sequence of products innovations, and better methods of design and analysis continuously reinforce each other and lead to the optimum design of the product. Stress analysis is a vital activity in this process. From the point of view of stress analysis, are the thermoplastics very
different from metals? The answer is yes and no. Yes, because a few types of behaviors of thermoplastic materials call for advanced techniques of analysis, because such behaviors are encountered only in special applications of metals. No, because several calculations and test procedures for characterizing the mechanical properties of thermoplastics are very similar to those of metals. Thus such stress analysis is also similar. Material properties of plastics such as elastic modulus, yield point, tensile strength and fracture toughness are understood, measured and used in a manner similar to those for metals. Many structural plastics design may be performed using the familiar strength of material approach. Likewise detailed stress analyses of plastic components are performed assuming linear elastic behavior.

PARAMETER CONSIDERED

Basically in car collisions, most of energy is dissipated by body deformation. But the things is depending on the type of collision, members are loaded axially and by bending or a combination all of that. Axially loaded members will normally dissipate a substantial part of the energy during a front collision. Some energy may be observed for such members, which normally collapse by folding and bending of the plate elements composing the component. Small variation in geometry, material

Properties as well as boundary and loading conditions can produce this scatter in the result. We will analysis how this parameter can effect and to reduce energy dissipation and thus to prevent more damage during the collision. Engineers today emphasize robust behavior of the energy-dissipating structure. So they must very wall in decide the variation in the material, geometry, loading and boundary conditions. Hence, the automotive industry uses finite element analysis in order to reduce the lead time to develop a new product and cost.

Research from the American Iron and Steel Institute on bumper compatibility stated that the difference in heights and weights between these two types of vehicles (and indeed averagesized cars and trucks) creates an advantage for the heavier and/or taller vehicle when in a collision. A bumper is designed to absorb the energy of a low speed impact with another vehicle, while an incompatible structure such as a headlight, or even a hood in some cases, is not.

When a bumper strikes an object that is not designed for impact, the bumper will sustain less damage and inflict much more damage on the soft item. Bumpers need to hit each other squarely to serve their purpose.

FUNCTION
A bumper is a shield made any of material like steel, aluminum, rubber or plastic that is

mounted on the front and rear of passenger car. The function is when a low speed collision occurs, the bumper system absorbs the shock to prevent or reduce damage to the car. Some bumper use energy absorbers or brackets and others made with foam cushioning material. The car bumper is design to prevent or reduce physical damage to the front car. It is also design to protect the hood, trunk, grille, fuel, exhaust and cooling system besides the engine. It is not safety feature intended to prevent or mitigate injury to occupants in the passenger cars. Bumper car rides are designed so that the cars can collide without much danger to the riders. Each car That runs the car. Electrical energy carried to the cars from the grid is converted to kinetic energy A bumper is a shield made any of material like steel, aluminum, rubber or has a large rubber bumper all around it, which prolongs the impact and diffuses the force of the collision. The bumper cars run on electricity, carried by a pole on the back of the car that leads up to a wire grid in the ride's ceiling. This grid carries the electricity, some of which is converted to heat.

Experimental measurements
A steel impact or was dropped from the height of h = 300 mm on a composite plate which was clamped along one edge was measured. A transverse displacement of the plate u(t) was Measured directly under the point of impact, 10 mm from the edge of the plate, see Fig. 5. The Displacement was measured by a laser sensor optoNCDT by Micro-Epsilon. The experimental setup scheme is illustrated in Fig. 6. The failure analysis of composite materials was the next comparison of the experimental measurement with numerical simulation [2]. Three stripes were made. The stripes properties where: length 105 mm, thickness 1.05 mm, width 15, 20, 25 mm and fiber orientation 0 (A00), 45 (A45) a 90 (A90). The comparison of experimental and numerical values of failure force are shown in Table. 4 bellow. Fig.

Fig. 6. Experimental measurement: a) experimental schema, b) actual photograph from measurement (1 tube fixture, 2 impact or guide tube, 3 composite plate, 4 optoNCDT laser sensor)

Design of new composite bumper reinforcement

In this part new composite bumper reinforcement is proposed. In the next step the stiffness analysis is performed. It is compared with original steel bumper reinforcement by means of stiffness analysis. The aim was to keep the basic shape of the bumper reinforcement the same as in the case of the steel bumper it means the length, height and curvature of bumper are Similar. The goal is to achieve the same, eventually better, mechanical behavior of the bumper reinforcement because the steel reinforcement shows fracture during RCAR test as discussed below. Afterwards, a large strain damage analysis and a weight comparison of selected bumper reinforcements are performed and the corresponding weights are compared. The connection between the reinforcement and the deformable element is not investigated. The connection is Rigid and realized by so-called tied elements.

6.1. Stiffness analysis For this stiffness analysis, four different simple geometry bumper reinforcement profiles were proposed as shown in Fig. 9.profile

Fig. 10. Stiffness analysis The stiffness test is displayed in Fig. 10. Steel cylindrical impact or is pushed into the bumper reinforcement with a force of 1 kN. The displacement of the bumper reinforcement is evaluated under the steel cylindrical position. At first, the lay-up of the composite structure was proposed as [01, 30, 90, 30, 0] and the total composite thickness was 6 mm. This composite structure did not reach stiffness improvement in comparison with original steel bumper reinforcement (see [1]). The profiles A and C showed low stiffness values and, therefore, they were not taken into consideration in the next simulations. To further improve the designs, the composite structure lay-ups of both profiles B and D were modified to [0, 30, 30, 90, 30, 30, 0] in the next step and so the new total composite thickness was 7.6 mm. The new results are displayed in Fig. 11. It can be seen that the modified profiles are now stiffer than the original steel structure. The complete results from Stiffness analysis can be found in [1].

6.2. Damage analysis

The testing was realized with a rigid barrier, which was pushed against the bumper reinforcement and the deformable element, (see Fig. 12) by a prescribed displacement. The parameters of the simulation barrier are equal to the barrier used in RCAR tests as introduced in section 2.2, i.e., rigid barrier with an inclination of 10 degrees, shift of the barrieris 40 % of the maximum width of the car without mirrors. The results are displayed in Fig. 13.

Fig. 12. Damage test

Fig. 13. Damage of composite reinforcement in simulation time 20 ms

Fig. 14. The fracture initiation on the edge of modified profile B

The analysis revealed fracture on the edge of the profile B, see Fig. 14, which does not demonstrate a good damage behavior of the bumper reinforcement. The modified profile D proved to be the best of all tested profiles. The maximum value of damage in the simulation is about 60 % (maximum dmax value in the whole model). This means that the loading is still transferred to the deformable element (see Fig reinforcement also shows certain fracture on the edge as shown in Fig. 15. Therefore, the com. 2) which is necessary feature for a well designed bumper reinforcement. The original steel bumper posite profile D proved to be a suitable replacement for the original steel structure from both the stiffness and damage point of view.

before fracture

Fracture

Fig. 15. Fracture on the original steel bumper reinforcement

The main advantage of the new bumper is the mass reduction. Mass comparison between original steel bumper reinforcement and composite bumper reinforcements is displayed in Tab.6. The mass was calculated from elements volume and material density. The comparison shows a great mass reduction of the bumper reinforcements with use of the composite materials up to 78 % in the case of best profile D.
Table 6. Bumper reinforcement mass comparison

Material Mass original steel composite profile A modified composite profile B composite profile C modified composite profile D

[kg] 8.89 1.14 1.63 1.45 1.94

Conclusions
The work is dedicated to the simulation of car bumper behavior according to prescribed safety procedures. The main part of the work is focused on the design of a new composite bumper reinforcement with the aim to maintain or improve its mechanical properties while reducing the mass. The numerical models for PAM-Crash software using shell elements and Ledev`eze model for the composite material are validated by experimental measurements. Afterward, four composite profiles are proposed and tested using stiffness analysis performed according to RCAR specification. After modification of the material structure, two profiles are found to have greater stiffness that the original steel structure and they are selected for latter damage analysis. The damage analysis proved one of the profile to be a suitable replacement for the original part as it showed no fracture and, moreover, a great mass reduction could be achieved with the use of the composite structure. However, the matter of price and damage of the reinforcement due to composite material delamination must be further inspected. This problem has not been involved in the numerical model yet. The connection between the reinforcement and the deformable element was also not resolved in this work since it is rather a technological issue. Acknowledgements

References
[1] Kleisner, V., Design of composite car bumper, Diploma thesis, University of West Bohemia, 2008. (in Czech) [2] Las, V., Zemck, R., Progressive damage of unidirectional composite panels, Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 2544, 2008. [3] PAM-CRASH 2007. Solver Notes Manual. ESI-Group, Paris. [4] Research Council for Automobile Repairs. Rcar homepage [on-line]. [cit. 2008-20-05]. URL: <http://www.rcar.org/index.htm>. [5] The official site of the European New Car Assessment Programme. Front impact [on-line]. [cit. 2008-20-05]. URL: <http://www.euroncap.com/tests/frontimpact.aspx>. [6] Vlk, F., Car body : ergonomics, biomechanics, passive safety, collision, structure, materials. Brno, Publisher Vlk, 2000, 243 pp., ISBN 80-238-5277-9. (in Czech)