Development of efficient short/continuous fiber thermoplastic composite automobile suspension upper control arm

Abstract

Abstract Thermoplastic composites are preferred in automotive and aerospace applications due to their lightweight, high specific strength, shorter cycle times, high toughness and recyclability. In particular, short glass fiber reinforced polypropylene composites have been extensively used in automotive components as a lightweight substitute for metals. Major limitation of short glass fiber reinforced thermoplastics is low strength and stiffness. This limitation can be overcome by placing continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic inserts along the critical locations of the structural parts. In the present study, mechanical properties of continuous glass fiber/polypropylene composite inserts under longitudinal, transverse and shear load conditions were studied experimentally. These experimental results are used in the numerical simulation of a control arm. Control arm is one of the load-bearing components in the suspension system, which is normally made of steel. Numerical simulation of upper control arm made of short fiber polypropylene composite with continuous fiber inserts has been carried out using ANSYS APDL 12.0. Effectiveness of continuous fiber inserts on load-bearing capacity of control arm has been studied. Short fiber thermoplastic composites with continuous fiber inserts demonstrated superior performance compared with steel and short fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites.