Composites for automotive: the challenges of numerical modeling

This paper deals with structural composites in the automotive field. It addresses issues on the development and the use of computing tools for mechanical modeling of composite materials when the vehicle undergoes crash, NVH or fatigue. The paper also highlights the current automotive context, including questions related to the introduction of structural composites as a way to reduce the weight of automobiles. For the three requirements (crash, NVH, fatigue) a state of the art for composites is proposed in comparison with metallic solutions. The opportunity to use optimization and robustness is discussed, especially for the early design steps. This leads to some items to develop (physics to be modeled and CAD tools) in order to meet the needs in the field of automotive composites and their numerical computation.