Fibre-reinforced composites in the car side structure

In this paper the general requirements for a passenger car side door made o f fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) are presented as well as a description of different concepts for self-supporting monocoque FRP doors. I;or one concep tual design, static and dynamic analyses have been made to investigate the potential of composites in this application. The results of the structural analyses, which have been investigated by commercial finite element analysi s (FEA) codes, are presented. The research data resulting from completed te sting of components are compared with the simulation results. On the basis of this research the prospect for the application of FRP in the held of sid e impact protection is discussed.