Design and optimization of automotive energy absorber structure with functionally graded material

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Abstract:

An automotive energy absorber is a major safety component of a vehicle during head - on and rear collisions. The beam-structure should withstand and absorb the impact energy; thus preventing energy transfer. Design and analysis are done to reduce the impact resistance in vehicles like tractors which has low speed. This study includes the selection of functionally graded polyurethane (FGPU) and optimizing design thicknesses. Two grades of polyurethane (PU) material are tested for uniaxial compression using a universal testing machine (UTM), and the stress-strain plots are obtained. A hyperelastic constitutive material model is applied to perform the explicit dynamic analysis on the beam-structure. The objective is to maximize the stresses in the FGPU, until fracture. Dynamic analysis is performed using ANSYS-WORKBENCH 15.0, while design optimization is carried out using MINITAB 17 and MATLAB 16. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd.

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cited By 0; Conference of 2017 International Conference on Advances in Materials and Manufacturing Applications, IConAMMA 2017 ; Conference Date: 17 August 2017 Through 19 August 2017; Conference Code:142973