Lightweight stiffened composite structure with superior bending strength and stiffness for automotive floor applications

The trend towards smaller and lighter, more environmentally friendly vehicles is accelerating, as the petrol price rises and the CO2 reduction target becomes more strict. As a key enabling technology, light-weight but low-cost structure plays an important role in promoting the use of fibre reinforced polymer matrix composites in automotive applications. In this work an experimental investigiation is carried out to design, manufacture and analyse a stiffened composite structure, aiming at achieving required bending and torsional strength and stiffness at the minimum weight. One major application of this new lightweight structure is the load-bearing floor component. Some initial results from this work are presented in this paper.