A Material Model Development and Validation for Dynamic Response of a Composite Intrusion Beam

Abstract

As a part of ongoing efforts in lowering the weight of GM vehicles to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions while meeting several safety requirements, the applications of advance lightweight materials, and in particular composite materials, are becoming more essential. Utilizing such materials instead of more traditional metallic materials, structural automotive components become lighter and more efficient. The focus of this study as a part of ongoing Ultra Lightweight Composite Door Design (ULCDD) Project is to develop computational models enabling the design of a composite intrusion beam subjected to a lateral impact. A relatively new physics-based material model in LS-DYNA was developed at a coupon-level using quasi-static flexural test results and subsequently employed to validate the sled impact test results at a component-level. The correlations of the force-displacement results as well as damage progression obtained from the simulation and experiment showed good agreement, demonstrating the capability of the present material model in predicting the dynamic response of composite materials. The above mentioned validated model is particularly important for conducting a multi-variable optimization study for the next phase of this project.