RECENT BREAK THROUGHS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF (LOW COST LIGHT -WEIGHT) HONECOMB ENERGY ABSORBERS FOR AUTOMOTIVE BUMPER SYSTEMS NOW MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO DESIGN A COST-EFFECTIVE LOW PEAK FORCE BUMPER SYSTEM WHICH CAN BE DESIGNED TO TRANSMIT AN EXTREMELY LOW

RECENT BREAK THROUGHS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF (LOW COST LIGHT -WEIGHT) HONECOMB ENERGY ABSORBERS FOR AUTOMOTIVE BUMPER SYSTEMS NOW MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO DESIGN A COST-EFFECTIVE LOW PEAK FORCE BUMPER SYSTEM WHICH CAN BE DESIGNED TO TRANSMIT AN EXTREMELY LOW SHOCK LEVEL TO VEHICLE OCCUPANTS. ONE OF CAC'S CONCEPTS IS TO DESIGN A BUMPER SYSTEM CONPOSED OF A FRONT FACE MOUNTED (EVA) HONEYCOMB ABSORBER COVERED BY A FRONT FASCIA (FOR STYLING FLEXIBILITY), A LOW MODULUS COMPOSITE BEAM, AND TWO RAIL MOUNTED HONEYCOMB ENERGY ABS ABSORBERS AS SHOWN IN FIGURE 2. THE EXTERNAL SPACE CLAIM, EXTERNAL STROKE, AND PROTEVTION BAND OF THE BUMPER SYSTEM WILL BE HELD TO WITHIN CURRENT AUTOMOTIVE STANDARDS. CAC'S TECHNICAL APPROACH IS TO EMPLOY A SERIES OF EXISTING CAC COMPUTER CODES; (1) VEHICLE DYNAMIC IMPACT, (2) ENERGY ABSORBERPERFORMANCE, (3) FINITE ELEMENT TO DESIGN A VERY LOW PEAK FORCE BUMPER SYSTEM. THE BUMPER BEAM WILL BE MOUNTED ON ONE -PIECE INJECTION MOLDED HONEYCOMB ENERGY ABSORBERS. CAC HOLDS THE PATENT ON THIS ENERGY ABSORBER DEVICE AND HAS DESIGNED OVER 45 CRASHWORTHY SYSTEMS.