Volume-4, Issue-4, August-2014, ISSN No.

: 2250-0758
International Journal of Engineering and Management Research
Available at: www.ijemr.net
Page Number: 98-101

A Review on the Composite Materials used for Automotive Bumper in

Passenger Vehicles
Alen John1, Sanu Alex2
1
PG Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology, Trivandrum,
Kerala, INDIA
2
UG Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mar Baselios College of Engineering and Technology, Trivandrum,
Kerala, INDIA

ABSTRACT cars. The materials selected for automotive bumper has

The emission of gases and fuel efficiency of vehicles been recently a concern. At present carbon reinforced
are two important issues in these days. The best way to fibers and glass reinforced fibers are commonly used in
increase the fuel efficiency is to reduce the weight of vehicle automotive bumpers. [1][2] The objective of this review
parts. Bumper is the one of the part having slightly more paper was to find out the commonly used materials for
weight. Without sacrificing safety we have to employ
automotive bumper and to get an overview on the material
composite materials in the bumper. Polymer composite
materials have been a part of the automotive industry for which would be the optimized composite for automotive
several decades but the economic and technical barriers have bumper. Composite materials consist of fibers of high
constraint their use. Because of their favorable properties strength and modulus embedded in or bonded to a matrix
(e.g. high specific tensile and compressive strength, with distinct interfaces (boundaries) between them. In this
controllable electrical conductivity, low coefficient of thermal form, both fibers and matrix retain their physical and
expansion, good fatigue resistance and suitability for the chemical identities, yet they produce a combination of
production of complex shape materials), reinforced properties that cannot be achieved with either of the
composites are very widely used. In the present scenario, they constituents acting alone.
have become the alternatives of conventional structural
materials such as steel, wood or metals in many applications.
Although glass-fiber-reinforced polymers dominate over the
other composite materials used in automotive application,
other polymer composites such as carbon-fiber-reinforced
polymers, glass fiber reinforced polypropylene, glass fiber
vinyl ester SMC show great promise to the industry. The
major thrust of this paper is the viability of polymer
composites used in automotive bumpers. Based on literature
studies on composite material properties the alternatives
provide much more promises in the automotive industries
than conventional materials used in automotive bumpers. The
other typical areas of application includes aircraft industry,
chemical industry, wind power plants, sporting goods, boats,
ships etc.
Keywords—Bumper materials, polypropylene, polyester
epoxy, SMC.
I. INTRODUCTION Figure 1: Schematic diagram of a bumper.
An automotive bumper is the rear most or front
most part of the vehicle which is used to protect the There are two main factors that has to be considered
passengers inside from the impact during a collision. The while the selection of bumper materials; i.e., it should
bumper plays an important role in the energy absorption provide better performance than the previous materials,
during a collision. The bumpers are not capable of should be cost efficient and secondly there should be
reducing the effect of impact at high speeds instead they increase in strength at the cost of reduced weight. [3][4]
are focused on mitigate injury to pedestrians struck by The weight of automobile bumper can be reduced by the

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use of composite and high- strength metallic sheet of a thin
material. Thus composite bumpers are used commonly due
to the increase emphasis towards weight reduction. Most
commonly, composite materials have a bulk phase, called
the matrix and one dispersed, non-continuous phase called
the reinforcement.[5] In general, fibers are the principal
load-carrying members, while the surrounding matrix
keeps them in the desired location and orientation, acts as a
load transfer medium between them, and protects them
from environmental damages due to temperatures and
humidity.[6]
The processing of polymer matrix composites does
not involve high temperature and pressure and hence the
equipments required are simpler. [5] For this reason they
have popular for both automotive and structural
engineering. There are many attempts and successful
application of polymer based composites used in bumpers.
By the advancement of technology there has been
successful use of glass fiber and carbon fiber
reinforcements of polymer based composites significantly
increased the tensile strength properties.
II. MATERIAL SELECTION CRITERIA
The selection of material for automotive bumper
depend on the following factors. [6][7]
2.1. Energy Absorption (EA)
One of the key factor in the selection of material
for bumpers is the ability of the material to absorb the
kinetic energy of collision. This ability of the material to
absorb energy is called impact toughness. Impact
toughness is define as a measure of the ability of the
material to absorb energy during impact.
2.2. Performance
Performance is defined as the ability of the
material to stay rigid during an impact. The two factors
that determine the performance are the flexural strength
and flexural modulus. Flexural strength is defined as the
ability of a material to withstand failure due to bending.
Flexural modulus is defined as the capability of the
material to resist bending or deflection. The flexural
strength is also known as stiffness of the material.
2.3. Cost
Cost determines the feasibility of the use of a
material for automotive bumpers. The cost of a material
makes it preferable for the industrial application. The cost
of these composite materials should be less than that of the
standard materials used in the automotive bumpers. Also it
should be noted that the reduction of cost should not
account for the reduction in performance and quality of the
bumper.
2.4. Weight
One of the primary reason for the engineers to
check for new type of materials is the weight reduction
factor. The reduction of weight plays an important role in
the fuel consumption. By reduction in weight, we mean
that the reduction in dead weight of vehicle. Decreasing
the dead weight on the engine ensures that less power is
required for the constant load hence lowers the fuel
consumption. Therefore reduction in weight of any
component of a vehicle reduces the net dead weight.
2.5. Service Conditions
As the bumper is exposed to different kind of
weather, the engineers must make sure that the bumper
material should be resistant to different kind of weather
conditions. The two material properties that has to be
considered for the bumper material are resistant to
corrosion and water absorption. As the name suggests
resistant to corrosion is the ability of the material to resist
corrosion. Water absorption is defined as the amount of
water absorbed by a material.
2.6. Manufacturing Process
The manufacturing process necessary are also
needed to be considered while selecting the best material
for the product development process. One of the main
factors that has to be considered is the shape of the
bumper. It should be noted that the bumper material should
provide the ease of changing the shape to the required
design. Manufacturing process includes the selection of the
best process either forming or shaping in order to achieve
the required design.
2.7. Availability of the material
Availability of the material can be categorized
into two; namely the availability of the raw materials and
the information regarding the raw materials. The
information regarding the materials is a must for the
designers during the design process.
2.8. Environment Considerations
Due to the depletion an increasing demand of the
natural sources of minerals and metals, it has been a
greater concern to the environmentalist. Therefore it is
important for to select of materials that can be recycled
and has longer life.
III. ADVANTAGES OF COMPOSITE
MATERIALS
Along with weight savings as well as strength-
weight-ratio, there a number of reasons that makes the
composite materials widely applicable as compared to the
conventional materials used in automotive bumpers. [5]
They are:
 Improved torsional stiffness and impact properties.
 Higher fatigue endurance limit (up to 60% of ultimate
tensile strength).
 Lower embedded energy compared to other metallic
materials like steel, aluminum etc.
 Composites are less noisy in operation and provide
vibration transmission than metals.
 Composites have reduced life cost compared to
metals.
 Composites exhibit excellent corrosion resistance and
fire resistance.
 Improved appearance with smooth surfaces
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  Composite parts can eliminate joints or fasteners,
providing part simplification and integrated design
compared to conventional metallic parts.
IV. MATERIALS USED
In general high composites with high rigidity,
moldability and high impact resistance have been preferred
for bumper materials. The commonly used composite
materials used for the automotive bumper design are
described as following.
1. Carbon fibre reinforced epoxy
2. Glass fibre reinforced epoxy
3. Carbon fibre reinforced polypropylene
4. Glass fibre reinforced polypropylene
5. Glass fibre vinyl ester Sheet Moulding Compound (SMC)
6. Glass fibre reinforced polyester
4.1 Carbon Fiber reinforced Epoxy
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer or carbon fiber
reinforced plastic (CFRP) is extremely strong and light
fiber reinforced polymer which contain carbon fibers. The
binding polymer is often a thermoset resin such as epoxy.
In carbon reinforced epoxy composite, the reinforcement is
carbon fiber, which provides the strength. The matrix is
usually a polymer resin such as epoxy, to bind the
reinforcements together. Because CFRP consists of two
distinct elements, the material properties depend on these
two elements. The reinforced will give the CFRP, its
rigidity and strength. Unlike isotropic materials like steel,
CFRP has directional strength properties. The properties of
CFRP depends upon the layout of the carbon fiber and the
proportion of carbon fiber.
Because of a large number of favorable properties
like low coefficient of thermal expansion, good fatigue
resistance and easiness for the production of complex
shapes along with high tensile and compressive strength,
the carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites have become
alternatives for conventional materials like steel, iron in
many applications. [5]
The carbon fiber reinforced composites are used
in bumpers due to the increased strength and appreciable
reduction in weight and size of frame. Until recently, the
use of CFRP had been limited due to the expense involved.
But now several mainstream vehicle manufactures have
been using the CFRP for creating body panels for some of
their high-end cars due to its increased strength and
decreased weight compared to conventional materials.
4.2. Glass Fiber Reinforced Epoxy
The glass fiber reinforced composites are
composite material system consisting of plastic resin
matrix, glass fiber reinforcement and other additives. The
glass reinforced composites are strong, lightweight and can
be shaped as curved, corrugated, ribbed etc. The glass fiber
composites are stronger than steel and aluminum. [5]
To obtain a 60% reduction in weight, improved
surface quality and aerodynamics compared to
conventional aluminum used which makes it useful for the
production of bumpers, airframe of fighter planes, small
boat hull and similar products. The disadvantages are
relatively low tensile modulus and high density (among the
commercial fibers), relatively low fatigue resistance and
high hardness which can cause excessive wear. There are
two types of glass fibers which are commonly used in
commercial industries. They are E-glass and S-glass [8];
the E-glass has the lowest of all commercially available
reinforcing fibers which makes the reason for its
widespread use in the industry. The S-glass was originally
developed for the aircraft components and missile casting;
as they have the highest tensile strength of all fibers in use.
4.3. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene
When carbon fibers are reinforced with
polypropylene composites they provide high impact
resistance and rigidity, which makes it favorable to use in
automotive and structural engineering. [9] In the recent
years more functions such as easy paintability, low
coefficient of thermal expansion and scratch resistant
property has been a great concern. Automotive parts such
as bumpers faces are usually painted prior to installation.
This is done because the polypropylene resin has poor
adhesive properties, so the painting is done prior to the
assembly.
Apart from bumper faces carbon reinforced
polypropylene are used in other parts such as instrumental
panels and door trims. Inorganic fillers are added in order
to improve the mechanical properties. Of all the inorganic
fillers, glass fiber shows the highest stiffening effect. It has
been proved that the fiber length is one of the key factors
determining the final tensile properties. [10] Due to the
consideration of cost, processability, performance talcum
and glass fibers are mostly used for polypropylene
compounds for automotive application.
4.4. Glass Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene
Due to cost, processibility, performance glass
reinforced polypropylene composites are preferred over
carbon fiber reinforced polypropylene. [9] However the
strength and stability of polymer-fiber interface determines
the final properties of the polypropylene composites. The
main advantages of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene
composites are high tensile strength, low cost, high
chemical resistance and good insulating properties. The
disadvantages are high specific gravity, low tensile
modulus, high hardness and low fatigue resistance [8].
One of the method used to improve final
properties of the glass fiber polypropylene is by matrix
modification. In this method, polar functional groups are
introduced to polypropylene chains so as to improve
compatibility with polar strengthening and achieve a
homogenous dispersion of fillers, reinforcements and
additives [8]. Apart from automotive bumpers glass
reinforced polymers are used for structure and function
parts such as washing machine parts, axial fan blades of
industries, irrigation equipment parts, skeleton of
instrument panel etc.
4.5. Glass fiber vinyl ester SMC
The resin used for glass fiber reinforced SMC
(Sheet Molding Compound) is vinyl ester. Apart from this
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resins like polyester, epoxy are used for SMC.[11] Usually
the fiber used are E-Glass and the filler used is calcium
carbonate.[12] There is another classification of glass fiber
SMC called the SMC lite which has a lower density
because it has glass bubbles in it. The mechanical
properties of glass fiber vinyl ester SMC includes low
density, ultimate tensile strength of 70-620 MPa and the
service temperature ranges from 130-3000Celsius.[11] The
main advantages of SMC are light weight, corrosion
resistance and lower tooling costs.
4.6 Glass fiber reinforced polyester
The glass fiber reinforced polyester (FRP) is a
composite consisting of a plastic resin matrix, glass fiber
reinforcement and other additives. The matrix itself alone
does not provide any strength, but it serves as the bond for
the reinforcing glass fibers. The resultant product is a rigid
solid material which have joined mechanically and
chemically with the reinforcing glass fiber which provide a
composite material whose properties are superior from the
individual components.
The properties of the FRP includes greater design
flexibility, non-corrosive, strong and lightweight. The FRP
is stronger than steel or aluminum the glass fiber
reinforced polyester has excellent weather resistance, heat
and chemical properties. The finished FRP can be curved,
corrugated or ribbed. The easy design flexibility and
mechanical properties makes the composite a promise for
the future. Currently the economic factors limits the use
glass fiber reinforced polyester in automobile industries.
IV. CONCLUSION
Determining the right material during the
selection process is very important. The material selected
should meet the expectation of the engineer. The material
should prove mechanically feasible and should be
economical. [13] Apart from this the selected material
must convincingly prove better than the currently used
material. The proposed material properties may help the
material engineers to perform the right material selection
during the selection stage.
Various studies has been done recently about the
selection of right material. Almost all the composites
discussed here have some desirable properties like light
weight, corrosion resistance, high strength to weight ratio
and high durability. The common polymer composite in
automotive application are glass fiber reinforced
composites and carbon fiber reinforced composites. They
are generally used in low-and-mid volume cars and trucks.
[13] In order to find an optimized composite for the
automotive bumpers both static and dynamic study has to
be carried out. The dynamic study includes impact analysis
and modal analysis. Other than the manufacturing of
bumpers, the composite materials also provides a wide
range of other potential automotive applications such as
body panels, suspension, steering, brakes and other
accessories. Apart from body panels, the current, limited
automotive application of composites include bumper
Copyright © 2011-14. Vandana Publications. All Rights Reserved.
systems, instrument panels, leaf springs, drive shafts, fuel
tanks, cross wheel beam, intake manifold.
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