Technical and economic considerations in development design of bumper fascias of passenger vehicles in the automotive industry

The aim of this paper is to present the technical and economic considerations in the development of projects of front and rear bumpers fascias for passenger vehicles in the automotive industry. Regarding to the technical issues addressed, there are: choice of the raw material, viable criteria of style surface and engineering, thermoplastic injection criteria, structural analysis, feasibility of assembly on the factory and after-sale, fixation concepts and many others. Regarding to the economical context, were evaluated: project and production costs, repairability costs, shock parking, components lifetime and communization. Based on the experience in previous projects and on the scientific literature, and applying the considerations presented, alternative ways of conducting bumper development projects are proposed. In this context, this paper aims to present a practical example of the application of this proposal, in current production line vehicle, exploring its main technical and economical impacts.