Abstract:
Side impact beam is one of the essential safety automotive parts used to reduce occupant serious
injuries and death rate during side collision due to high energy absorption and moderate beam
intrusion. Additionally, laws and regulations concerning fuel efficiency and environmental impact
of automobile are firmly enforced. Thus, composite materials, whose mechanical properties can be
tailored, are considered to use as side impact beams owing to the higher strength to weight ratio than
the traditional metal. The finite element method is utilized in this research to study the static and
dynamic behaviors of E-glass/epoxy composite side impact beam under the FMVSS 214 standard
and the results obtained are compared to those of steel beams. The design of composite beam is
considered based on the influence of ply orientation and number of plies. The results indicate that
those manufacturing parameters affect the composite beam performance. A lay-up with eleven
layers, each layer having ply orientation at [plus or minus 55 ํ, 0 ํ, plus 55 ํ, 0 ํ]s, is the most appropriate
combination of composite beam to substitute the steel beam. The designed composite beams can
absorbe more energy and have 39 percents lighther weight than the conventional metal side impact
beams.