Optimum designing of a new sandwich absorber structure for car front bumper

In this study, a novel absorber design is presented to enhance performance over the conventional polymer variant in car bumpers. The new absorber adopts a sandwich structure with aluminum foam shells and a polymer foam core. Finite Element Method (FEM) and Abaqus software were employed, conforming to the E.C.E-R042 standard. Analysis indicates density has a more significant impact on performance than thickness. Across sandwich configurations, both maximum von Mises stress and plastic strain were significantly reduced compared to the polymer absorber. The maximum impact force, within a specified shell density range, was lower than the polymer counterpart. The optimal structure for maximum impact force, von Mises stress, and the plastic strain was determined using the Taguchi method. The selected item: sandwich absorber, 25mm shell thickness, and 225 kg/m³ density.