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Improving passenger car damageability has been an important topic for The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Research Council for Automotive Repairs (RCAR) council. Incorporation of new IIHS/RCAR barrier (Rigid bumper shaped barrier fitted with an energy absorbing material and cover) in ‘Bumper Structural Test protocols’ closely replicates the damage patterns observed in real world low-speed crashes. Inclusion of new IIHS/RCAR barrier impact (10kmph speed) test, along with IIHS and RCAR bumper test protocols, redefines the development of countermeasures for low speed damageability. In this paper an innovative cost effective, and lightweight, hybrid bumper beam solution is proposed with thermoplastics and steel, to meet IIHS and RCAR impact requirements including new IIHS/RCAR barrier impact test protocols.

As the pedestrian impact regulations are continuing to evolve, there is a growing emphasis on each and every component of a vehicle front to be pedestrian friendly. Traditionally pedestrian safety during an automotive impact is ensured through bumper, grill, fender and hood. However, the headlamp design was not under the same level of consideration as compared to other frontal components. To make pedestrian safety complete, the headlamp also needs to adhere to the pedestrian safety regulations. A novel energy absorber ring (EAR) concept was developed to make the headlamps pedestrian friendly. The proposed EAR concept was found to improve the pedestrian safety and low speed vehicle damageability performance. It was also observed that the proposed concept reduces the replacement and insurance cost.

This book is focused on the use of plastics in automobiles for traditional applications, as well as for more advanced uses such as under-the-hood components. Engineering thermoplastics offer the ability to tailor-make components from polymers, and to design parts for enhanced performance, new functionality, part integration, and elimination of secondary operations. Parts made from engineering thermoplastics can be manufactured within specified cost constraints, and using manufacturing methods that offer a wide range of production flexibility. A decade of research and real-world applications is presented by the authors on application technology development for various aspects of automotive design – concept design, CAD modeling, predictive engineering methods through CAE, manufacturing method simulation, and prototype and tool making.

This paper presents a methodology developed using Design of Experiments to predict the maximum temperature of an automotive headlamp reflector for the given geometry of the headlamp components and heat source. The proposed approach has been validated through comparison with three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation. The final out come of this study is a set of transfer functions, which can predict the maximum temperature of a reflector, positioned either in horizontal or vertical configuration.

Polycarbonate (PC) panels undergo large deformations when subjected to thermal cycling. Mechanisms that connect PC glazing panels to the Body-In-White (BIW) either completely restrain such motions or allow the panel to partially expand or contract. The effect of different connecting mechanisms on panel deformations was numerically studied. It is seen that the use of adhesives is preferable to rigid and even semi-rigid connections. Furthermore, a detailed parametric study establishes the importance of a proper design for the adhesive configuration. This ensures appropriate flexibility of the support thereby resulting in minimal thermal deformations of the panel.