Crash Performance of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Composite Bumper Beam using Finite Element Analysis

Malaysia is categorised as one of the countries with a high number of road crashes involving deaths. This indicated the necessity of improving the safety system of a vehicle including the passive system which comprises of the bumper as one of the systems. In the frontal impact, the bumper system is the first vehicle part that receives the impact. Therefore, a crashworthy bumper that can protect the occupant is essential.  In this research, the crash performance of OPEFB fibre/epoxy composite bumper beam has been investigated using finite element analysis. Low-velocity impact of 4 km/h between impact block and the bumper beam was simulated using LS-DYNA in accordance to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 581 regulation. The composite was found exhibited comparable specific energy absorption with the aluminum bumper beam. Mass reduction of around 56% was observed. The peak force required for damage initiation for the composite bumper beam reduced by about 90% with impact time lengthen by around 89%. The velocity-history curves revealed a lower level of deceleration could be obtained through the utilisation of the composite bumper beam.