Comparison of Different Methods for Panel Dent Resistance Using Numerical Assessment and Influence of Materials Used in Automotive Industry 2020-01-0483

Conventionally, the automotive outer panels, giving vehicle its shape, have been manufactured from steel sheets. The outer panels are subjected to loads due to wind loading, palm-prints, person leaning on the vehicle, cart hits, and hail stones for example. Consumer awareness about these two panel characteristics: Oilcanning and Dent resistance is increased, which has been observed in recent marketing studies. Apart from perceptive quality, another factor depending on the dent performance is insurance and respective cost implications. Dents can occur due to several reasons such as object hits, parking misjudgement, hail stones etc. Phenomenon can be divided into two types, static and dynamic denting. Static dent case covers scenario wherein interaction with outer panel is mostly quasi-static. Hail stones present dynamic case where object hits a panel with certain kinetic energy. Automotive companies usually perform static dent assessment to cover all the cases. The scope of this paper is to discuss the comparison between two methods and its results using Finite Element Analysis. Influence of panel stiffness on dent resistance is also studied. Panel dent resistance depends on different factors such as panel thickness, material strength, indentor velocity, and geometrical stiffness influence of panel form. Various studies have been performed to show the effect of panel stiffness on dent resistance for material under consideration. Need is felt for a comprehensive study covering typical materials used in automotive industry. In second phase of the paper, comparative dent performance study is carried out on an automotive hood covering typical material grades for Steel, Aluminium, and Carbon Fibre Composites for respective thickness ranges. Results and discussion provide insightful details for dent resistant outer panel selection.