Durability-based design criteria for an automotive structural composite
Before composite structures can be widely used in automotive applications, their long-term durability must be assured. The Durability of Lightweight Composite Structures Project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was established by the US Department of Energy to help provide that assurance. The project is closely coordinated with the Automotive Composites Consortium. The experimentally-based, durability-driven design criteria described in this paper are the result of the initial project thrust. The criteria address a single reference composite, which is an SRIM (Structural Reaction Injection Molded) polyurethane, reinforced with continuous strand, swirl-mat E-glass fibers. The durability issues addressed include the effects of cyclic and sustained loadings, temperature, automotive fluid environments, and low-energy impacts (e.g., tool drops and roadway kickups) on strength, stiffness, and deformation. The criteria provide design analysis guidance, a multiaxial strength criterion, time-independent and time-dependent allowable stresses, rules for cyclic loading, and damage tolerance design guidance. Environmental degradation factors and the degrading effects of prior loadings are included. Efforts are currently underway to validate the criteria by application to a second random-glass-fiber composite. Carbon-fiber composites are also being addressed.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-96OR22464
- OSTI ID:
- 291075
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/CP-99195; CONF-980943-; ON: DE99000225; TRN: AHC29901%%281
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 13. annual ESD advanced composite technology conference and exposition, Detroit, MI (United States), 28-29 Sep 1998; Other Information: PBD: [1998]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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