Advanced GMT Technology Boosts Performance of Automotive Bumper Components

970480

02/24/1997

Event
International Congress & Exposition
Authors Abstract
Content
Developed specifically for the automotive industry, a new glass-mat thermoplastic (GMT) composite technology provides significant improvements in strength and energy management behavior for automotive bumper applications. This increased performance is achieved through the use of new fiberglass mat design, sizing chemistry, and binder resin technology vs. standard GMT composite products with the same type and percentage of glass loading. No substantial tooling and processing changes are required to make use of the new products, which are interchangeable in current GMT molds.
In order to fully evaluate the new materials, actual direct-mountable automotive bumper beams were molded and tested in both static and dynamic modes. The results of this testing demonstrate the new composites' ability to achieve Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 581 8 km/h impact performance without the need for costly hydraulic or foam energy absorption (EA) units. This paper will discuss the new materials and the testing procedures used to evaluate the GMT bumper performance.
Meta TagsDetails
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4271/970480
Pages
10
Citation
Bassett, W., and Battino, G., "Advanced GMT Technology Boosts Performance of Automotive Bumper Components," SAE Technical Paper 970480, 1997, https://doi.org/10.4271/970480.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Feb 24, 1997
Product Code
970480
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English