23M-0137

LIGHT WEIGHT MATERIAL FOR ENTRY ASSIST GRAB HANDLE WITH GAS ASSIST
TECHNOLOGY

1-6 Mahindra Research Valley,

Mahindra World City, Chengalpattu,
Tamilnadu - 603204, India

Abstract
Ground clearance plays a vital role in an off-road vehicle during off
roading. Higher the ground clearance, higher is the difficulty during
ingress & egress of the vehicle. This brings in the necessity to
provide entry-assist grab-handles for vehicle with more ground
clearance (>200mm). Entry-assist grab handles alleviates the pain of
the occupants during ingress and egress.

For entry-assist grab handles’ purpose to be served, it should provide

comfortable ergonomic grip & have to take the load of passengers
while ingress or egress through-out the complete life cycle of the
vehicle. Entry Assist grab handles can be fitted on A-Pillar zone to
assist first row passengers & on B-pillar zone to assist second row Fig 1. Roof Grab handle
passenger.

Providing entry-assist grab handles on pillar trims make the grab-

handles exposed to head-impact zone and hence, in most of the cases,
it should pass the head impact regulations framed for respective
countries.

This paper dwells upon the importance of a material used for entry-
assist grab handle purpose in meeting durability, and safety targets as
per regulation. The proposed material grade also shows reduction in
weight as compared to the conventional materials used for Entry
Assist Grab handle. Not-withstanding, we have discussed the
behavioral comparison of different materials that are used
conventionally and the key benefits for the proposed material are
discussed in the paper. The proposed material is also compatible to be
manufactured by Gas assist injection molding process.
Fig 2. Entry Assist Grab handle
Key words: Entry-assist grab-handles, Head impact, Durability CAE,
Gas-assist injection molding, Sink mark, Weld-line, Crash CAE, PP-
GF The existing material used for normal roof liner grab-handles is PP-GF
25%. The current roof grab-handles have only durability criteria that
1. Introduction are to be satisfied. However, for entry assist grab-handles,
homologation (Head Impact) criteria adds-up to the requirement along
The conventional design of any off-road vehicle does not include with general durability criteria that had to be adhered. Entry-assist grab
structures that assist the passengers during ingress and egress. handles fall under the head impact zone during crash and hence
Conventional grab handles (fixed or collapsible) are provided on roof performing crash CAE [1] is mandatory for entry-assist grab-handles.
liners in order to render support to passengers only during the trip. In Current PP-GF 25% material grade (henceforth denoted as ‘Grade A’)
current market, for vehicles with more ground clearance (>200mm), that is being used in roof liner grab-handles satisfies only the CAE
providing grab handles to assist entry will be a delight for any durability requirements and failed to meet the homologation CAE
customer. requirements.
Page 1 of 6

10/19/2022
There are several materials available for entry assist grab handles like 3. Steps to Achieve the challenges: -
POM grade (Polyoxymethylene) which has high strength and high
stiffness, but they also have some demerits that needs to be solved
which are listed below: -
3.1 CAE Structural Durability requirements

The CAE durability [2] requirements (Load vs Deflection)

• It has a high cost
requirements have been satisfied by both the material grades (Grade
• It has more weight than PP composites
A and Grade B). The maximum deflection observed for 300N load
• It is not following color harmony with the pillar trims spec is around 1.22mm and 4.15mm for Grade A and Grade B
respectively.
Roof Grab Handle Entry Assist Grab
Handles

Commonly used PP-GF 25% POM

material
Proposed PP-GF 25% PP-GF 30%

Table 1- Material Comparison

Hence an alternate grade (henceforth denoted as ‘Grade B’) of PP-GF

30% has been proposed and Grade B material is showing
improvements that are listed below: - Fig 3. Grade A Fig 4. Grade B

• Reducing the deacceleration values of head form during
head impact
• Meeting Durability and Safety targets
• Enhanced cost to wight ratio
• Meeting regulations and color harmony
The stress values on the grab handles for Grade A and Grade B are
also within the acceptance criteria of 59MPa for 300 N load. The
values are 39MPa and 36MPa for a load of 300N for Grade A and
Grade B respectively. Based on the CAE iterations on different
grades performed, Grade B is showing 40% less than the target
criteria for deflection and Grade A is 35% less than the target.

Several CAE iterations are performed to conclude the material and Grade A Grade B
integrated design improvements helped in achieving the functionality.
More details about simulation results & challenges in achieving Load 300N 300N
desired results are explained in this paper.
Deflection 39 MPa 36 MPa

% Lesser than target 35% 40%

2. Challenges for Entry Assist Grab Handles: -
The required process for manufacturing entry assist grab handle is gas Table 2. Grade Comparison
assist injection molding due its intricate shape & size that is suitable
for hand grip. So, the material selection plays a crucial role in meeting
the manufacturing requirements. A few of the critical challenges are
listed below.
• Meeting CAE Structural Durability requirements
• Meeting CAE homologation requirements.
• Meeting raw material level DVP requirements
• Meeting manufacturing process requirements
• Meeting Cost and weight requirements Fig 5. Grade A{500N-39MPa} Fig 6. Grade B {300N-36MPa} (4)

• Meeting Color harmony requirements So, Grade B is superior in terms of CAE deflection because of the
Glass content which is more in Grade B than in Grade A.

Both the grades (Grade A and Grade B) have been subjected to various Grade B (Glass Content) → 30%
durability CAE, homologation CAE, material related CAE analysis to
check the compatibility of using the grade for the application of Entry- Grade A (Glass Content) → 25%
assist grab handle. The results of various analysis done, and the
comparison of results has been presented in this paper.
When glass content is more in a material, it offers better stress
bearing capacity due to the increase in young’s modulus content.The

Page 2 of 6

10/19/2022
stress vs strain graphs are also mentioned and discussed in the
subsequent topics.
3.2 To meet CAE Homologation requirements
The homologation CAE crash [1] requirements demands that the
head form deceleration value shall not exceed 80g continuously for
more than 3ms. Material Grade A has failed to meet the above
criteria. In general, for all roof-liner grab-handles where Material
Grade A is used, there are not head impact related requirements since
the grab-handles does not fall under head-impact zone.
In contrast, for entry-assist grab-handles, head-impact criteria are
mandatory as the grab-handles fall under head-impact zone. Material
Grade B has passed the Head-impact homologation requirement as
well.
Fig 7. Grade B – Head Impact definition
Fig 8. Grade B – Head Impact deceleration Transverse direction
Fig 9. Grade B – Head Impact deceleration Longitudinal direction
Page 3 of 6
10/19/2022
The deceleration value is well within the deceleration requirement for
Head-impact. Grade B material has cleared the Head-impact
homologation requirement. Grade B has met the crash CAE
requirements for both longitudinal meshing and transverse meshing
pattern.
3.3 To meet material requirements
The material level CAE has been conducted for both the material
grades. Both Grade A and Grade B has passed the minimum material
related requirements set for any PP grade materials.
Fig 10. Grade A {Stress Vs Strain}
The Strain observed for 30MPa stress is around 0.08 and is matching
the material requirement for the PP grade. The young’s modulus for
the material grade A is observed to be 1935MPa (max). Young’s
modulus plays a vital role in determining the Engineering stress vs
strain relation. The deflection to length ration is observed to be
0.08mm for a stress of 30 MPa. Grade A has passed the minimum
target for the material stress vs strain.
Fig 11. Grade A {Material Data- Experimental}
The strain at break is observed to be 10% and the failure stress is
measured to be 30.4MPa.The material has undergone a maximum
stress of 31.2MPa during the loading condition in transverse
direction.
Whereas, for Grade B, the young’s modulus is more than grade A
material which stands to ~3000MPa against 1950MPa of Grade
A.Grade B material is also superior in terms of strain at break
condition. The observed strain at break is 5.7% against the strain at
break condition on 10% for Grade A.
Fig 12. Grade B {Stress Vs Strain}
The Strain observed for 550MPa stress is around 0.05 and is
matching the material requirement for the PP grade.This is far
superior to Grade A. The difference in Stress to strain ratio is owing
to the better value of Young’s modulus of grade A material.
Fig 13. Grade B {Material Data- Experimental}
The strain at break is observed to be 5.7% and the failure stress is
measured to be 52.8MPa which is superior to Grade A.The material
has undergone a maximum stress of 56.6MPa during the loading
condition in transverse direction.
Grade B material has been observed to be superior in terms of
material related properties because of the increase in glass content.
Glass content plays a vital role in increasing the material’s young’s
modulus, stress and strain condition, break-point stress and break-
Page 4 of 6
10/19/2022
point strain.The condition has also been observed when the specimen
flow direction changes from transverse to longitudinal. The young’s
modulus has drastically increased to 3780MPa, ptoving that the
material has gained more tensile strength when the specimen flow
direction is longitudinal
3.4 To be compatible for gas assist injection molding
The material grades chosen are to be taken for Gas-assisted injection
molding process, in-order to acquire the desired grab handle shape
and section. Nitrogen gas is preferred for gas-assist injection molding
process and hence the chosen material is subjected to MFA [3]
considering the gas-assist injection molding process
The following conditions are preferred as feed input for the mold
flow analysis that is performed.
Fig 14. Grade B {Mold Flow Feed data}
Fig 15. Grade B – Gas-assist Injection mold setup
The material grade B proposed has passed the deflection, sink mark,
weld-line and thickness plot requirements and the same has been
confirmed through mold-flow analysis as well.
The material filling happens as per the below graph. Material flows
from nozzle to gate and gets filled inside the tool core and cavity. The
graphical representation of the flow-start and flow-end has been
depicted in the below images
 Gas Thickness Plot:

Fig 16. Grade B {Mold Flow Start}

Fig 19. Grade B – Gas thickness Plot

The above plot shows that the deflection and gas thickness plots are
within the specified values with rest to the CAD data that is shared.

Fig 17. Grade B {Mold Flow End} Fig 20. Grade B {Pressure(MPa) Vs Filling Time (s)}

The plot shows that the material gets filled in 1.8 seconds from mold For any material to pass the gas assist injection molding process
flow start to end condition. However, mold-opening and mold- requirements, the delta between maximum injection pressure and
closing times are to be added differently. holding pressure should be less than 10 MPa.

Deflection Plot: The above graph shows that the delta between maximum pressure
during injection stage and holding pressure in less than 10MPa. This
proves that the chosen material grade is suitable for the gas-assist
injection molding process.

Summary/Conclusions
In conclusion, it is clear from all the analysis and CAE (Computer
Aided Engineering) tests performed that Grade B has met all the
required criteria defined for an Entry-assist Grab handle. Unlike
Grade A, Grade B has met all the homologation and durability CAE
requirements. Also, the proposed Grade B material is superior to the
currently used POM grade for entry-assist grab handles in terms of
light weight and cost.

Fig 18. Grade B – Deflection Plot

Page 5 of 6

10/19/2022
Apart from meeting the regulatory requirements, PP Grade-B has the References
following advantages over conventional POM grade used for entry
assist grab handles as well.
[1] M&M CAE durability & safety simulation reports.
[2] M&M BSR simulation reports.
➢ Weight saving due to differences in densities of POM [3] Supplier mold flow analysis reports.
(1.4g/cubic cm) and PP grade (1.12g/cubic cm) [4] TANG, H., "Development on Rapid Assembly System of Crash
Safety CAE Modeling," SAE Technical Paper 2013-01-1380, 2013
➢ Less vehicle weight translates to high fuel efficiency & Doi: doi.org/10.4271/2013-01-1380
which in turn reduces the carbon footprint [5] P. Hu, K. Gong, Y. Bao., " Physical value mapping algorithm of
mesh in fine CAE analysis of automobile body structure," Research
➢ Reduced part cost due to low raw material cost of PP over Gate, Sep 2005,
POM. Link:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293755395_Physical_value
➢ Within PP, Grade A meets all homologation, durability and
_mapping_algorithm_of_mesh_in_fine_CAE_analysis_of_automobil
material requirements while Grade B meets only durability e_body_structure
and material requirements
Contact Information
Grade B POM 1. PRASHANT DATTATRAY KHAIRNAR,
89,Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd Plot No,M I D C Area
Density 1.12 g/cubic cm 1.4 g/cubic cm Satpur,M I D C Road,Satpur, Nashik-422007
Mobile: 9922001171
Cost (as on 2021) 150/Kg 175/Kg 2. GOWTHAM D,
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (MRV Chennai), Mahindra
Homologation ✔ ✖ World City, Plot No. 41/1, Anjur P.O,Chengalpattu-
603004
Mobile: 9965293609
Durability ✔ ✔
Definitions/Abbreviations
Table 3. Grade B vs POM comparison
PP-GF Polypropylene Glass Filled
Hence it is felicitous to conclude, based on the plots and analysis
performed, that PP Grade B material can be used for the application POM Polyoxymethylene
of Entry-assist grab handles with optimized cost and weight.
MFA Mold-Flow Analysis

Page 6 of 6

10/19/2022