Application and CAE Simulation of Over Molded Short and Continuous Fiber Thermoplastic Composites, Part II

Automotive seating back frames for front row are mostly constructed from high strength steel in order to meet very rigorous crash requirements. The main requirements are meeting the rear impact and luggage retention behavior as specified by the standards. In this paper, seating back frames constructed from over molded Short Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics (SFRT) on Continuous Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics (CFRT) inserts are described. One of the challenges is accurate CAE simulation of the static and dynamic behavior of such parts. CAE tools using LSDyna were developed to model accurately the rear crash and luggage retention behavior. Designs validated through CAE analyses were used to cut the tool and build prototype parts. Physical tests on Prototype parts confirmed good correlation between the tests and FEA. They met all the required criteria without requiring any design changes.