Síntesis y caracterización de las propiedades mecánicas de un material compuesto tipo laminado con refuerzo de fibra de vidrio en matriz de resina epóxica para cajas de impacto de automóviles.

Abstract

The objective of this research was to synthesize and characterize the mechanical properties of a laminated composite material with glass fiber reinforcement in epoxy resin matrix, as an alternative material for automotive crash boxes, by means of numerical simulation. The characterization of the material was carried out by tensile tests, using samples with volumetric percentages of reinforcement and matrix of 40% and 60% respectively. These percentages are based on the type and architecture of the reinforcement used. The samples were grouped into 6 different groups, varying in each one the material configuration in terms of fiber orientation and number of layers. The analysis of the influence of these factors on the laminated material was performed with the statistical tool of design of experiments. To validate the material, it was modeled considering each aspect of the material and simulated by the finite element method. The different material configurations were applied in a rectangular impact box model by simulation, and then, using the 3 best configurations with the best performance in terms of energy absorption, the optimization of the model was performed based on the geometry design and application of triggers; it was observed that the fiber orientation has a greater influence on the material in relation to the number of layers. An error of less than 10% was obtained between experimental and simulated results, based on the modeling of the material. With a fiber orientation at 0°/90° and 8 layers, and applying a conical hexagonal geometry and trigger at the beginning of the impact box, a better performance was achieved. It is concluded that the composite material studied is suitable to be used as a substitute in impact boxes. It is recommended to use the results obtained in this work in future research to carry out real impact tests in automobiles.