According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a composite bumper 300 for a vehicle. The method comprises: introducing a bumper fascia material around a preformed bumper reinforcement structure in a mould, thereby forming a composite bumper comprising a bumper fascia 303 with an integrated bumper reinforcement structure 304 for impact absorption. The bumper reinforcement structure is configured to transmit impact forces, acting on the composite bumper in the event of a collision, to the chassis. The preformed reinforcement structure may be made using an additive manufacturing method such as tape laying or tape steering for laying a fibrous material. The reinforcement may be preformed outside of the mould prior to forming the composite bumper inside the mould, or it may be preformed in the mould and cured during the step of forming the bumper. The reinforcement structure may be designed using a topology optimisation technique configured to design an arrangement of reinforcement material within a boundary of the bumper fascia. The bumper reinforcement structure may be recycled in that it is obtained from another composite bumper. Also claimed is a composite bumper comprising a bumper fascia and an integrated bumper reinforcement structure.
Composite bumper
2025-04-02
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B60R Fahrzeuge, Fahrzeugausstattung oder Fahrzeugteile, soweit nicht anderweitig vorgesehen , VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR |