Page 50 - ATZ11 November 2019 Professional

DEVELOPMENT BODY

Serial Sensors for the

Fiber Composite Body

© Bosch
Functionalized Lightweight Design

and Damage Monitoring

AUTHOR

Challenges for Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) lightweight design are
fast development times and high cost pressure. Besides, present
sensor-based vehicle features need to be implemented in future vehi-
Linda Klein. M. Sc.
cles as well. An approach is to integrate current automobile sensors is Development Engineer at the
Robert Bosch GmbH in the Engi-
directly into FRP structures. This integration of a current acceleration neering Center of Competence Plas-
tics at Division Powertrain Solutions
sensor even enables a secondary feature for damage monitoring. in Schwieberdingen (Germany).

CHALLENGES FOR FRP IN THE leration sensor is integrated into FRP problems caused by standard
AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR structures. The sensor is part of the mounting technologies are avoided.
sensor concept of the passive vehicle – Weight and single wirings of the
Resource efficiency and an increased per- safety. The target is an efficient approach, sensors are reduced, what saves
formance can be achieved by lightweight which combines FRP lightweight design place, among other things.
design. Established materials are Fiber with already existent knowledge on the – No particular development for
Reinforced Polymers (FRP), for structures automobile sensor. In related works, sen- sensors is needed for the integra-
with load-specific design and high design sor technologies were mainly particu- tion in FRP structures.
flexibility. Within the automotive sector, larly developed for the integration, such The integration of the automobile acceler-
fast development times and high develop- as piezoceramic sensors (inter alia [1]), ation sensor adds an additional benefit.
ing and pro duction costs are a challenge. fiber Bragg Gratings (inter alia [2]) or Beside the primary function for the pas-
Besides, present sensor-based vehicle fiber sensors (inter alia [3]). sive vehicle safety, the sensor can serve
features need to be implemented also for a damage monitoring as a secondary
for future vehicles. Additionally, the feature. This is essential for FRP struc-
ADVANTAGES OF THE INTEGRATION
number of sensors increases with lim- tures, because internal damages, such
OF CURRENT AUTOMOBILE SENSORS
ited con struction space. Further, the stan- as fiber cracks or dela mination, are often
dard mounting technologies for sensors The potential of FRP structures lies not hard to recognize by visual inspection.
are not always suitable for FRP struc- only in the weight reduction. In addition,
tures. Thus, bolted connections can the setup in layers of the structures
REALIZATION OF THE
corrosively be damaged by conductive enables to directly integrate sensors.
SENSOR INTEGRATION
carbon fibers. By this, the use of current automobile
A research contribution at the Robert sensors has several advantages: FIGURE 1 (left) shows the current automo-
Bosch GmbH deals with this subject. – The application of current sensors bile acceleration sensor. The sensor has a
Doing this, a current automobile acce- is possible for FRP parts, whereas housing with a connector interface and a
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