This content is not included in
your SAE MOBILUS subscription, or you are not logged in.
Designing a Production-Ready Ultra-Lightweight Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites Door
Technical Paper
2021-01-0365
ISSN: 2641-9637, e-ISSN: 2641-9645
This content contains downloadable datasets
Annotation ability available
Sector:
Event:
SAE WCX Digital Summit
Language:
English
Abstract
Vehicle lightweighting has been a constant theme of research at numerous Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) as it provides one of the best opportunities for improving fuel efficiency. In this regard, the Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technology Office set a challenge to lightweight a fully assembled driver’s side front door by at least 42.5% with the cost constraint of a maximum $5 increase for every pound saved. A baseline door of an OEM’s 2014 mid-size SUV was selected, and an integrated design, analysis, and optimization approach was implemented to meet this goal. The ultra-lightweight door design had to meet or exceed the fit & function and mechanical performance (static and dynamic) of the baseline door while being suitable for mass production. The design strategy involved parts consolidation, and multi-material distribution to enable mass reduction without compromising the fit and functional requirements. The primary structural component of this ultra-lightweight door design is a composite inner-frame made of a woven carbon/Nylon-6 composite material. While a finite element composite optimization technique was implemented to design the ultra-lightweight door that met the static and dynamic performance targets, it lacked manufacturing inputs. This study focuses on the feasibility of large-scale manufacturing of the composite inner-frame using thermoforming processes. One benefit of employing these processes is that the existing OEM stamping lines can be utilized with minor modifications with no additional capital cost for equipment. The scope of this paper is to identify the challenges in thermoforming of the thermoplastic door - including shear angle, tearing, and wrinkle formation - using draping simulation and share the solution in the form of countermeasures in the part design and tool concept to make the manufacturing of the final part feasible.
Authors
- Ashir Mittal - Clemson University
- Anmol Kothari - Clemson University
- Sai Aditya Pradeep - Clemson University
- Sushil Savla - Clemson University
- Madhura Limaye - Clemson University
- Gang Li - Clemson University
- Srikanth Pilla - Clemson University
- Pal Swaminathan - Lanxess Corp.
- Shridhar Yarlagadda - University of Delaware
- Ryan Hahnlen - Honda R & D Americas, LLC.
- Duane Detwiler - Honda R & D Americas, LLC.
Citation
Mittal, A., Kothari, A., Pradeep, S., Savla, S. et al., "Designing a Production-Ready Ultra-Lightweight Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites Door," SAE Int. J. Adv. & Curr. Prac. in Mobility 3(4):1915-1922, 2021, https://doi.org/10.4271/2021-01-0365.Data Sets - Support Documents
Title | Description | Download |
---|---|---|
Unnamed Dataset 1 |
Also In
SAE International Journal of Advances and Current Practices in Mobility
Number: V130-99EJ; Published: 2021-08-31
Number: V130-99EJ; Published: 2021-08-31
References
- Osuga , R. Fuel Economy and Weight Reduction of Motor Vehicles J. Soc. Automot. Eng. Japan 55 4 4 8 2001
- Park , C.-K. , Kan , C.-D.(Steve) , Hollowell , W.T. , Hill , S.I. , George Washington University, A., LLC, W.T.H.C., Dayton, U. of, and Administration, N.H.T.S. Investigation of Opportunities for Lightweight Vehicles Using Advanced Plastics and Composites Natl. Highw. Traffic Saf. Adm. December, 2012 416
- Guzman-Maldonado , E. , Hamila , N. , Naouar , N. , Moulin , G. , and Boisse , P. Simulation of Thermoplastic Prepreg Thermoforming Based on a Visco-Hyperelastic Model and a Thermal Homogenization Mater. Des. 93 431 442 2016 10.1016/j.matdes.2015.12.166
- Yerra , V.A. , Pradeep , S.A. , Ozsoy , I.B. , and Kothari , A. A Systems Approach to Develop Ultra Ligthweight Composite Door Using Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics SPE Technical Papers ACCE 1 15 2018
- Kothari , A. , Yerra , A. , Limaye , M. , Pradeep , S.A. et al. A Finite Element Design Study and Performance Evaluation of an Ultra-Lightweight Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites Vehicle Door Assembly SAE Technical Paper 2020-01-0203 2020 https://doi.org/10.4271/2020-01-0203
- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2016
- Insurance Institue for Highway Safety 2014