A Study on the Robust Crash Performance Structure of Continuous Fiber Thermoplastic Composite Cowl Crossbar
2022-01-1056
03/29/2022
- Event
- Content
- Since the 1990s, an increasing amount of research has been done in the automotive industry, not only to improve vehicle production efficiency and performance but also for environmental preservation and enhanced recycling. For this reason, recently, keen interest has been focused on the reduction of fuel consumption through the development of eco-friendly and weight-effective vehicles. This is due in part to the strengthening of regulatory standards for fuel efficiency in each country. This study will focus on the high crash safety performance and the optimization of the IP module, in particular, the cowl crossbar, which in most vehicles, can account for more than 33% of the total weight. In fact, the cowl crossbar is the main part of the vehicle that must support the duct system, steering column module as well as the entire IP module. Therefore, it requires a high stiffness to meet the performance requirements for NVH, durability, and crash protection. For example, during a frontal impact collision, the intrusion of the engine and transmission may cause deformation of the IP module and interfere with the column mounting to cause abnormal behavior of the steering column module. The resulting would interfere with airbag deployment and could exacerbate passenger injuries. Therefore, the rigidity of the steering column connection to the cowl crossbar is an essential part of the design when developing for vehicle crash performance. The design objectives of the cowl crossbar were to use continuous fiber thermoplastic composite materials to achieve high stiffness while optimizing the strength to weight performance as evaluated through vehicle sled and crash testing. This research will introduce the development and optimization methodology for an alternative material, which achieved about a 30% weight reduction as compared to steel.
- Citation
- Kim, H., KIM, I., JAE HYUN, A., IN SOO, H. et al., "A Study on the Robust Crash Performance Structure of Continuous Fiber Thermoplastic Composite Cowl Crossbar," SAE Technical Paper 2022-01-1056, 2022, .