Analysis of Cumulative Damage in a Bumper Due to Multiple Low Speed Impacts

The paper presents a method of analysis based on the theory of damage mechanics to quantify the degree of damage in an engineering structure under load. The method is incorporated into a Ford in-house finite element program called FCRASH that is applied to analyze the cumulative damage in a bumper under multiple low speed impacts. The numerical results calculated at the peak value of the contact force are compared with the test results. The FEA results are used to identify the locations of the hotspot in the bumper system and the predicted location where a potential crack would initiate. The microscopic observations showed damage in the area predicted with the finite element program after the specified number of impacts.