Development of a computational tool for advanced analysis of light weight composite structures

在主要的汽车结构中使用高性能复合材料以试图减轻车辆的重量是一个相当大的兴趣。复合材料可以提供高比能吸收（单位重量的能量）能力，这使得它们在轻量化，冲击吸能结构应用中非常有吸引力。大量的试验研究证明了复合材料结构在轴向和横向冲击载荷条件下的承载和能量吸收能力。在过去的十年中，在航空航天和汽车工业中，人们花费了大量的精力来开发用于复合材料结构冲击和碰撞模拟的预测工具。预测复合材料在各种结构荷载作用下的响应的模型范围很广，其中一些模型已经在商业有限元规范中实现。虽然这些模型已经被设计工程师所采用，主要是在航空航天工业中，但在汽车应用中使用这些模型仍然存在问题和局限性。本提案的目的是开发一种强大的计算工具，用于预测复合材料结构在碰撞和冲击载荷条件下的响应。交付的产品将是一个强大的计算工具，在商业有限元代码（LS-DYNA）中实现，并通过薄壁截面复合材料结构的弯曲和冲击测试结果进行验证。开发的工具将提供有物理意义的能量吸收和损伤大小/分布预测，可用于设计福特感兴趣的碰撞和冲击吸收复合材料结构。

There is considerable interest in using high-performance composite materials in primary automotive structures in an attempt to reduce the weight of the vehicle. Composite materials can offer high specific energy absorption (energy per unit weight) capabilities that make them quite attractive for light weight, impact energy absorbing structural applications. Extensive experimental studies have demonstrated the load bearing and energy absorption capabilities of composite structures under both axial and transverse impact loading conditions.In the last decade, a considerable amount of effort has been expended on developing predictive tools for impact and crash simulation of composite structures in both aerospace and automotive industries. A wide range of models exists for predicting the response of composites under various structural loads and some of these models have been implemented in commercial finite element codes to date. While these models have been adopted by design engineers, mostly in aerospace industry, there are still issues and limitations involved in employing such models for automotive applications. The objective of this proposal is to develop a robust computational tool for predicting the response of composite structures under crash and impact loading conditions. The deliverable will be a robust computational tool that is implemented in a commercial finite element code (LS-DYNA) and validated with the results of bending and impact tests on composite structures with thin-walled sections. The developed tool will provide physically meaningful predictions of energy absorption and damage size / distribution that can be used for designing crash and impact absorbing composite structures of interest to Ford.