Opportunities in Optimizing Car Door Weight

Abstract

Car door is an important part that is used for the protection of passengers from side collisions and also for the comfort of entering and leaving the car. Car doors weigh around 2% of total car weight. Conventional car doors are made from steel as it is sturdy. But it also contributes to the increment of the car weight. As scientific researchers are getting more advanced, finding out new materials as a substitute for conventionally used steel becomes more evident. Advancement in manufacturing and joining technologies pave the way to encouraging us to search for new improvement opportunities in car door weight optimization. Side impact collision of a car is the most hazardous as it directly hits the driver which causes injuries or death all over the world. Vehicle is one the medium of the terribly hazardous crashes causing injuries and death annually around the word. In this research paper, the most important parameters including materials, loads, stresses and deformation were studied to find out opportunities of car door weight optimization. Reduction in car weight means less fuel consumption which enables automobile industries to reduce carbon emission levels of a car. But the safety of passengers is the main priority which demands a light-weight as well as strong material that can sustain collision impact. The aim of the report is to compare the structure of different materials used in car door with currently used material. The designing of the car door is done using computer-aided three-dimensional interactive application (CATIA) software. Impact analysis is conducted on the door using ANSYS Workbench software by varying the materials. S-glass epoxy UD alloys become promising substitutes because of their satisfactory mechanical properties and specifific strength.