Impact resistance of metal skin-carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminate structures for the production of lightweight vehicles body frame

The research presented in this paper deals, in the first part, with the material characterization of an innovative class of material, made of steel skin and sheet molding compound core, the last one realized with vinyl-ester resin and chopped carbon fibers. Utilizing the results of the material characterization, the case of an automotive B-pillar is taken into account in order to test and prove the reliability of the utilization of this innovative typology of material, instead of the standard steel. The steel skin – SMC hybrid laminate structures are realized by means of stamping process under warm forming condition, in order to favorite the curing of the SMC layers. The result presented along the paper will show that the steel skin – SMC material not only have better specific resistance that those of both standard and high strength steel but also better crashworthiness properties, in comparison to the considered steel. Based on the results of the numerical simulations, a useful way thought which to estimate the crash worthiness property is proposed in this paper and the results will show how the B-pillar realized with steel skin – SMC has a higher impact resistance, in comparison the steel one with the same weight and reduced thickness.