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 Composite Materials Literature review
Chidubem I.W. Ezekwem
Department of Physics, Loughborough University

Abstract
For cars, weight and fuel efficiency are two important issues. Research has shown that the best way
to improve fuel efficiency is to reduce the overall weight of the car, without sacrificing the safety of
the passengers. The use of composites in the production of car parts has proven to be able to
balance the reducing the weight and preserving passenger safety. The car bumper is one of unique
area that has benefited from the use of composite material. In this review, two bumpers made from
nylon-6 nanocomposite and polyethylene/palm kernel shell-iron filings composite are analysed. The
mechanical properties of these composite materials are then compared to conventional car bumper
material such as aluminium and steel, this comparison showed a reduction in weight, cost and
environmental impact, disadvantages such as difficulty in mass production and sophistication of the
production process were also noted.

Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Bumpers .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Bumper material requirements .......................................................................................................... 2
Aluminium bumpers ........................................................................................................................... 2
Steel bumpers ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Dimensions and Properties of existing steel Bumpers ................................................................... 3
The production of steel bumpers ................................................................................................... 3
Composite Bumper ................................................................................................................................. 3
Composite materials used .................................................................................................................. 4
Glass fibres ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Epoxy resin ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Design of a composite bumper ............................................................................................................... 4
Recycled Polyethylene/palm kernel shell-iron filings composite ................................................... 5
Nylon-6 ............................................................................................................................................ 6
Summary ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Appendix ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... .10
Introduction
This literature review will focus on car bumpers, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) defines a bumper as a shield made of
aluminium, plastic, rubber or steel that is mounted on
the front and rear of a passenger car. It is expected
that in low speed collision the bumper system is to be
able to absorb the shock to reduce or prevent damage
to the car; some make use of energy absorbers or
brackets and other foam cushioning materials [1].
Following current trends, weight reduction has
become a key focus of automobile manufacturers.
Sustainable use and development of natural resources
is the main focus of automobile manufacturers in the
present market [2]. Achieving the above calls for a
more innovative approach to better materials, more
effective manufacturing processes and an
introduction of superior design concepts.
Bumpers
Car bumper is a safety system used to counteract low
speed collisions, it is placed in the car body and
designed to prevent or reduce physical damage to the
front and rear ends of the car during low impact
collisions [1].
Figure 1: Structural Framework of car (©http://www.gettydesign.com/catalog/996/bodywork/diagram.jpg)
Figure 1 above shows a simple structural framework
of passenger cars as it can be seen there are a total of
two bumpers in the car structure them being the front
and back bumper. Bumpers are not generally
designed to be significantly contributed to the crash
wordiness of the car during front or rear impact
collisions; it should not be mistaken as a safety
feature intended to prevent severe injury to the
occupants. Bumpers also serve to protect the front
fenders, trunk/deck lid, exhaust and cooling systems
as well as critical safety related equipment such as
headlights, taillights and indicators in the event of low
speed collisions.
As stated earlier, the National highway traffic safety
administration produced a set of standards which
govern the base requirements of bumpers for
passenger automobiles. The bumper standards
imposed are [3] [4]:
 Front and rear bumpers on passenger cars
should prevent damage to car body,
 Bumper should be capable of withstanding
impacts at 2 mph across full width and 1mph
on corners,
 Bumper should be able to withstand 5 mph
crashes with parked cars,
 Bumpers are to be placed between 16 to 20
inches above road surfaces.
Satisfying these conditions during low speed impact
collisions is paramount.
Bumper material requirements
 Able to absorb more energy while in collision
 Easy for large scale manufacturing,
 High resistance to rust,
 Light in weight,
 Low cost.
Aluminium bumpers
Aluminium bumpers are advantageous in the sense
that they are lighter and stronger than steel. In
contrast, they are much more expensive and prone to
major fractures. It shot to fame through race cars but
has since been overshadowed by carbon fibre [5] [6].
Ferrari has reported that: aluminium bumpers are
easier to shape than carbon fibre ones and the weight
increase is negligible [7].
In present work, the aluminium bumper used in
passenger type cars is being replaced by composite
materials made up of glass, carbon fibres, etc. and
nanocomposite materials such as nylon-6 which is a
Nano clay-polyamide. The bumper thickness for
composite bumper, when calculated through bending
moment equation and other dimensions for steel,
aluminium and composite bumper is considered to be
the similar. Comparing the stress, weight and cost
saving is therefore objective [8] [9].
Steel bumpers
Steel bumpers [9] have many advantages such as their
relatively high load carrying capacity and high
ductility. However, this gives a low strength-to-weight
ratio. Car manufacturers have stated that using steel
adds to the aesthetic as well as minimizes life cycle
costs.
Dimensions and Properties of existing steel
Bumpers
The table below gives an overview of the dimensional
properties of a chromium coated steel bumper
currently use
Table 1: Details of an already existing steel bumper
Effective length 0.975m
Total length 2.055m
Thickness 0.002m
Effective breath 0.078m
Total breath 0.172m
Weight 5.16kg
Tensile strength 460 MPa
Density 7800 kg/m3
Cost $3600
The production of steel bumpers
2mm thick steel sheets known as ‘blankets’ are fed
through a series of dyes (7-8), depending on the
bumper model. Each dye stamps the blanket to a
particular shape using roughly 2000 tons of force. This
progressively forms the blanket into the final bumper
shape. Both front and rear bumpers go through the
same process, the only difference being the dye used
on each. The newly shaped blankets then travel via
conveyor belt to the next phase of production where
workers then clamp each blanket unto a specially
designed cart. At this point the blankets are passed
through a series of buffing wheels and then
submerged in several cleaning tanks to remove any
residue left on it. The blankets are then further
inspected after which they undergo a plating regime.
Ensuring no defect is present on the blanket is
paramount because the plating process magnifies
even the smallest of blemishes. The first process
involves applying a coat on nickel to the blanket to
protect it from corrosion, after which a chrome layer
is added. This is done using a standard electro plating
process in water and chemical filled tanks where the
particles of the plating metal are laced with a positive
charge. When a negative charge is passed through, a
magnetic field is created. This field draws the particles
onto the blankets in even layers. The blankets are
then subjected to a thorough rinse and then inspected
by workers under high intensity lighting.
Plastics are then pressure-injected via machinery into
various moulds, these machines then fast harden the
plastic using flash-freezing thus producing plastic
components which are then added to the blankets.
One of these plastic parts is the step pad that covers
the topside of the rear. Once in place, workers then
attach built-in hitch steal and steel mounting
brackets, these add to the structural integrity of the
bumper.
Front bumpers have plastic trims which hang down
slightly below the bumper helping to direct the air
flow to the engine compartment due to their
aerodynamic shape.
Four steel reinforcement brackets are used to attach
the bumper to the car’s frames before the licence
plate holder and fog lamps are inserted and bolted in.
All the bolts are set to specific tightness coefficient to
ensure the bumper and its mounting brackets will
adequately absorb the force of a Collison.
Composite Bumper
In recent years, the automotive industry has advanced
a great deal and composite materials have played a
large role in this revolution. Various composite
materials have been experimented on in most parts of
cars.
Manufacturers fill polymers with particles in a bid to
improve the toughness and stiffness of the materials,
as a means of enhancing their barrier properties as
well as enhancing their resistance to fire ignition, or
simply to reduce costs. The addition of particulate
fillers can lead to drawbacks such as brittle or opaque
composites.
This has led to the production of a new type of
composites known as nanocomposites. These
composites are particle-filled polymers which have at
least one dimension of dispersed particles in the
nanometre range. They are distinguishable based on
how many dimensions of dispersed particles are in
their nanometre range, for example a nanocomposite
with three dimensions in the nanometre range is
known as an isodimentional nanoparticle, such as
spherical silica nanoparticles obtained by in situ sol-
gel method [10] [11] or by polymerization directly on
their surface [12]. Amongst all the possible
nanocomposite precursors, clay-based and layered
silicates have been subjected to more rigorous
investigation, this is likely due to the availability of the
clay material and their chemistry already being
extensively known.
Due to the reduction in weight, some manufacturers
prefer composite materials over their steel
counterpart. Some key advantages include:
 Absorbs more collision energy,
 Easier to achieve smooth aerodynamic
profiles for drag reduction,
 Outstanding resistance to corrosion,
 High impact resistance,
 Rapid response to induced or released stress,
 Reduction of part count and production cost.
Composite materials used
Glass fibres
Fibre reinforced plastics combine the strength and
stiffness of fibrous materials. Materials produced
through this means possess very high resistance to
corrosion, low density and easy moulding capability.
Majority of reinforced plastics produced recently are
either polyester resins or glass reinforced epoxy. Glass
fibres make good reinforcing agents, due to the
relative ease at which high strength can be obtained
in using a few microns in diameter.
Properties of Glass Fibres
The properties of glass fibres are:
 Corrosion resistance,
 Electrical properties,
 Resistance to impact,
 Low density,
 Specific strength.
Types of Glass Fibres
The most commonly used glass fibres are E-glass, S-
glass, C-glass and D-glass. E-glass stands for electrical
glass as it was designed for electrical applications, E-
glass fibres are high quality glass fibres used for
standard reinforcement for resin systems which
comply with the necessary mechanical properties.
The S in S-glass stands for high silica content. It retains
its strength at high temperatures and has high fatigue
strength. It is largely used in aerospace applications.
The C in C-glass stands for corrosion. It is designed to
have an improved surface finish with a high resistance
to corrosion.
In D-glass, the D stands for the dielectric which is used
for applications requiring low electric constants.
Advantages of Glass Fibres
Glass fibres are most widely used as reinforcements
for composites due to the following advantages:
 Easy to fabricate,
 Molten glass can be easily drawn into high-
strength fibres,
 Relatively strong fibres produce very high
strength in its composite form.
Epoxy resin
These are low molecular weight organic liquids which
contain epoxide groups. Epoxides have 1 oxygen and
2 carbon atoms in its rings and are formed by most
reactions between epichlorohydrin and aromatic
amines. Hardeners, plasticizers and fillers can be
added to produce epoxies with wide ranges of
properties from viscosity to impact. Even with its high
cost when compared to other polymer matrices, its
popularity overshadows the rest. The main reasons
are:
 Availability and diversity,
 Good compatibility with glass fibres,
 High strength,
 Low viscosity.
Epoxy resin is more expensive than aluminium and
steel, roughly retails at $1 to $10 per pound. With
glass fibres starting at around $1 they are price-
competitive with aluminium and steel only when
being used in small quantities. Also, production of
these materials one a large-scale (i.e. volumes of at
least 30,000 units per year) requires large investments
in technology.
Design of a composite bumper
For the design of a composite bumper two cases will
be considered: one involving nylon-6; a
nanocomposite designed by Toyota; and a recycled
polyethylene/palm kernel shell-iron filings (CPKS)
composite manufactured by students at the Ahmadu
Bello University Zaria, Nigeria.
Recycled Polyethylene/palm kernel shell-iron Raw palm kernel shells (PKS) were sourced from local
filings composite palm oil processing plants; the shells were heated in a
A project carried out by the research students at the furnace to about 800°C turning it into carbon ash
department of mechanical engineering Ahmadu Bello using a process known as ashing. The ash was then
University in Zaria, Nigeria, produced a new sieved to remove unwanted contaminants. This was
composite material with properties suitable for car done in order to remove most of the moisture in the
bumper manufacturing. A matrix made up of empty shell whilst retaining its carbon content.
water sachets was reinforced using carbonized palm
kernel shell particulates (CPKS) and iron fillings, using
a percentage composition of 5 wt%1 for iron fillings
with CPKS varied from 5-20 wt% at 5% intervals. The
physical and mechanical properties of the composite
were tested alongside current bumper materials
samples.

Empty water sachets, CPKS and iron fillings are all

Figure 2: Palm Kernel Ash Figure 3: Iron Filings [15]
classed as waste products in Nigeria and as such pose particulate [15]
huge environmental challenges. Research into
composite material production using palm kernel shell The iron fillings were gathered and sieved. The iron
(PKS) had already been ongoing with varying results fillings, carbonised palm kernel shell and polyethylene
[13] [14]. were compounded into a two roll mill at a
temperature of 130°C forming a homogeneous
Materials AND METHOD
mixture. 400g of each composition was compounded
The manufactured composite was made out of
and labelled.
recycled low density polyethylene, CPKS and iron
fillings. Pre-analysis were carried out on each In a 150 nm sized square mould, the mixture was
material, with the aid of a PW 00 X-ray spectrometer, placed and subjected to a pressing pressure of
an x-ray fluorescence test was carried out on the CPKS 0.4MN/m2 until they cured, the temperature of each
after which the CPKS were ground into powder form plate was kept at 150°C during this process, at the end
and weighted and a binder was then added to the of each press cycle the boards were removed from
sample, which subsequently mixed and pressed into their moulds and left to cool before being cut into
pellets. Next, the tensile strength of the RLDP was separate pieces for characterization. This process is
recorded. known as pressing and it serves to increase the
compatibility for the material.
Table 2 below displays the percentage composition by
weight for the RLDP and the CPKS. The physical and mechanical aspects of the material
Table 2: Formulation of Carbon Material [15]
were studied using a range of tests and compared to
that of three prominent conventional car bumpers in
S/n Carbonized Iron RLDP Sample Nigeria
Palm Kernel Filings (wt %) Label
(wt %) Stress-strain properties
1 0 5 100 CPKS 0 The tensile strength indicates the compounds ability
2 5 5 90 CPKS 5 to withstand forces that pull it apart as well as its
3 10 5 85 CPKS 10 stress before break point; tensile tests were
4 15 5 80 CPKS 15 performed using a Hounsfield tensiometer, with a
5 20 5 75 CPKS 20 maximum load of 250 KN. After measuring the
ultimate tensile strength, breaking stress, tensile
modulus and percentage elongation of all composite
The iron fillings percentage was kept constant due to
and conventional car bumper types, the composite
results from previous research noting this as an
bumpers failed to surpass their conventional
optimal amount.
counterparts (See appendix figure 7-13). The
conventional samples had tensile strengths ranging
from 10.08 to 14.92 N/mm2 compared to the
1
composite materials who’s highest was 7.94 N/mm2.
Wt%- mass fraction
The tensile modulus for the composite material
increases to a peak value of 29.92 N/mm2 at 15 wt%
of CPKS, which then fell when more particulates was
introduced. The introduction of reinforcement also
resulted in a reduction of percentage elongation of
the composite material; this can be attributed to the
presence of two hard and brittle phases in the matrix.

Hardness properties
The hardness properties were measured at room
temperature and recorded. The data shows an Figure 4: Schematic illustration for synthesis of Nylon-6/clay [20]
increase in hardness number in relation with the
increase in percentage composition of reinforcement
(see appendix figure 12); this can be attributed to the
percentage of hard and brittle phases of the ceramic
body in the polymer matrix. The large variation of
hardness number of the composite materials is as a
result of the distribution of the reinforcements in the
matrix and can be solved by ensuring a more uniform
distribution of reinforcements in the matrix.

Impact Properties
A reduction in the composites’ impact energy was
noted as the concentration of CPKS increased. This is
largely due to the reduction in elasticity of the
material due to the addition of particles which reduce
the deformability of the matrix, thereby reducing the
matrix ability to absorb impact energy. Figure 5: Formation of Nylon-6 Nanocomposite by situ
polymerisation [21]
Nylon-6
Toyota Central Research Laboratory first reported
their work on Nylon-6 in the early 1990’s [16] [17]. It As shown in the figure above, sodium montmorillonite
was reported that small amounts of Nano-filler is mixed with an aminolauric acid in an aqueous
loading, results in a pronounced improvement in hydrochloric acid to protonate the aminolauric acid
thermal and mechanical properties. which then exchanges with the sodium counter ions.
Alkyl units of the resulting organ clay have terminal
The properties of Nylon-6 is not only a factor of its
carboxyl groups. Under certain conditions, these
individual parent components i.e. Nano-filler and
carboxyl groups initiate ring-opening polymerization
nylon, but also its morphology and characteristics
of caprolactam forming nylon-6 chains which are
[18].
ionically bonded to the alum inosilicate platelets.
Materials and Method Driven by the free energy from the polymerization,
Under appropriate thermodynamic interactions, the chains grow forcing the platelets apart until
polymers can spontaneously intercalate the galleries exfoliation is accomplished. According to a report
of organ clays. However the static diffusion cannot written by a team from the chemical engineering
lead to full exfoliation [19]. Toyota disclosed an department of Texas Materials institute,
improved method for producing nylon-6/Clay nanocomposites would have been more widely used if
nanocomposites using an in situ polymerization that they could be formed from existing polymers using
exfoliates the alum inosilicate layers through a conventional melt processing techniques such as
chemical mechanism. The Toyota process can be seen injection moulding and extrusion [21].
in figure 5 below. Also shown below in figure 4 is the
Schematic illustration for synthesis of Nylon-6/C lay.
Stress-strain properties
One notable benefit of adding high aspect ratio, Nano
scale platelets to the polymer is the increase in
modulus per unit mass of reinforcement. This results
in the material demonstrating higher strength,
hardness and scratch resistance [21], as well as a
sizably increased stress at break. This is explained
using the presence of polar and ionic interactions
between the polymers and its layers. Figure 13 show
the relationship between modulus and molecular
weight of the nylon 6 matrix. The graph shows the
higher level of modulus at given MMT loading. The
stress at break was found to be sizably strong. A car
bumpers ability to function at relatively high stress
and strain conditions is essential; and the stress-strain
properties of nylon-6 make it a good choice.
Thermal expansion Behaviour
Polymer nanocomposites are expected to have
improved thermal expansion properties, while
retaining the processing and surface characteristic of
its matrix owing to the small size and low content of
the Nano-filler [21]. Through the use of a high
resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM),
the orientation of the clay platelets in the nylon 6
nanocomposite was viewed. As seen in figure 14, the
platelets are better aligned in the FD axis than their
TD counterparts with there being little alignment in
the ND axis. The thermal expansion of the high
molecular weight nylon-6 nanocomposites possesses
thermal expansion coefficient in the rubbery state on
par with that of those below the glass state, this
improved thermal expansion means deformation in
the car bumper due to temperature conditions is kept
as a minimum.
Impact properties
The formation of Nylon-6 nanocomposites does not
result in significant reduction in the impact properties
of the material, the stiffness and strength of the
nanocomposite are greatly improved as the amount
of organo-clay is increased. However, the IZOD2
impact strength is reduced from 20.6 to 18.1 J/m
when 4.7 wt. % of organo-clay is incorporated. This is
still a relatively good impact resistance value for low
speed impacts. The impact density ratio values for the
nanocomposite further supports the use of Nylon-6
for the production of car bumpers. More mainstream
bumper materials offer better impact resistance
properties at low and high speed impact conditions.
2
ASTM standard method of determining the impact
resistance of materials.
Effect of clay on nylon-6 crystallization
Isothermal crystallization studies at 197°C shows that
small crystal platelets act as nucleating agents for
crystallization for the nylon-6 matrix. At this
temperature, the crystallization half-life, 𝑡1⁄ is
2
normalized by that of the extruded matrix polymer
without any clay. This property is of particular
commercial interest. While clay increases the number
nuclei, high clay loading retards polymer crystal
growth.
Summary
This research work has reviewed two key composite
materials along with their various production routes,
advantages and disadvantages. In the case of the Palm
kernel Shell-Iron filing composite, it was noted that
most of the composite materials’ mechanical
properties were lower than that of their conventional
counterparts. In addition, the composite material with
5wt% of and 10 wt% CPKS were recommended for use
in the production of car bumpers due to their high
impact energy to density ratios of 0.2 and 0.19
respectively, which puts them close to that of the
standard failure mode exhibited during their testing.
In addition, the materials used are
 Environmental impact,
 Low costs (roughly a 77.2% reduction); steel
bumper cost $3600 whilst its CPKS
counterpart was valued at $820.
Nylon-6 nanocomposites present a many possibilities:
these nanocomposites not only exhibit excellent
mechanical properties, but also display outstanding
combination of optical, electrical, thermal, magnetic
and other physico-chemical properties.
One advantage of nanocomposites is that the
strength, shrinkage, warpage, viscosity and optical
properties of the polymer matrix are not significantly
affected; another advantage is their mechanical,
electrical, thermal, barrier and mechanical properties
such as increased tensile strength, improved heat
deflection temperature, flame retardant, etc., which.
can be achieved with typically 3-5 wt.% loading.
However, there are huge limitations in producing
them, such as costs, processing constraints, oxidative
and thermal instability and unstable market share
[22].
Appendix

Figure 9:Tensile modulus for the PKS composite material compared

with conventional material [15]
Figure 6:Breaking point for PKS composite material compared with
conventional material [15]

Figure 10:Percentage elongation for the PKS composite material

compared with conventional material [15]

Figure 7:Ultimate tensile strength for the PKS composite material

[15]

Figure 11:Impact strength of PKS compared with conventional

materials [15]

Figure 8:Density of PKS composite materials compared with

conventional materials [15]
Figure 12: Hardness number for PKS composite material [15]

Figure 14:Orientation of clay platelets in nylon-6 nanocomposites

as determined by TEM [21]

Figure 13: Effect of wt% on Modulus [10] [21]

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