STRUCTURAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES DETERMINATION OF BUMPER BEAMS FROM TWO SELECTED HONDA VEHICLES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT Bumper beams are part of the safety features in vehicles. They are designed to absorb energy during impact in cases of collision and, therefore, reduce damage to the vehicle and its occupants. Recently, new materials have been introduced into the automotive world that possess advantages such as weight reduction, energy absorption, and cost efficiency. However, the non-availability of standardized databases against which such materials can be compared to existing ones for performance comparison has led to a gap in the evaluation of their suitability for critical automotive applications. This paper therefore closes this gap by evaluating and comparing the structural and mechanical properties of bumper beams of two Honda vehicle (2010) model that are commonly in use in Nigeria. Mechanical tests of performances, structure, and materials are conducted for this work, characterizing mechanical behaviour by adopting multi-method approaches; tensile strength test, fracture toughness, flexural and impact test. SEM and EDX tests supplement the characterization processes with an investigation of micro-structural and micro-composition materials features. This enables detailed finite-element modelling and display collision situations. Simulations performed allowed both a researcher and an interested audience to look close enough into behavioural distribution in post-bending conditions at such various scenarios of multiple collisions. Preliminary findings show huge differences in bumper beam performances, which strongly depend on material composition and manufacturing processes. Such results clearly highlight the interest of benchmarking new emerging materials against traditional ones for optimum safety, performance, and cost of automotive applications. This study also provides input into the creation of a standardized database of automotive materials enabling informed material selection and design optimization. This research therefore studies commonly used Honda models in Nigeria to provide insight into the localized material performance that should inform safety standards and material innovations suitable for regional road conditions and regulatory frameworks.