Three Point Bending Analysis on the Side Impact Beam of a Perodua Kancil

Abstract

FMVSS 214 (“Side Impact Protection”) that introduced in 1970 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) specifies performance requirements for the protection of occupants in side impact crashes, in order to reduce the risk of serious and fatal injury to occupants. With FMVSS 214, every car was installed with a side impact beam which was a passive safety device inside the door. Usually steel is used as the material for the side impact beam but it has disadvantages of having heavy weight. The objective of this study is to analyse the side impact beam of a Perodua Kancil with different material that could replace steel due to it’s heavy weight by using three point bending analysis. In this study, the side impact beam was analyzed under three point bending with a crash load due to different types of materials, i.e. steel, stainless steel and an aluminium alloy. A finite element model of the side impact beam from the Perodua Kancil was created and analyzed by the finite element analysis software ANSYS. The result from the finite element simulation shows that one of the suggested materials, i.e. the aluminium alloy, gives better result to deflect and resist the impact force.