Analyzing effects of damping materials on automotive bumper beam assembly under different velocity conditions

Automotive bumper beams play a very crucial role in absorbing impact energy during crash collisions and reducing damage from the front or rear ends of the vehicle during low or high-velocity impact. This paper discusses the impact of different energy-absorbing materials introduced between the fascia and the metallic beam. A novel recipe, with combinations ranging from 0% to 50% and 20% to 80% of Polypropylene (PP) with Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and Polypropylene (PP) with Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), was prepared by weight and comparative study based on their impact strengths was done both experimentally and numerically. The mechanical properties of the polymer blends have been determined under tensile, compressive, and impact testing. Results obtained from numerical simulation analysis lie in reasonable agreement with the experimental findings. The tensile and compression test results show that polymer blend PP/EPDM-50/50 is the best selection as an energy absorber due to its ductility and toughness properties which is evident from experimental testing. The introduction of this blend in front of the metallic strip (bumper beam) has significantly supported the improvement in the energy-absorbing capacity and impact strength.