Abstract:

High speed, light weight and low energy consumption have become the major goals for the car manufacturers all over the world. Besides the light weight, good tailorable and mechanical performances, natural fiber reinforced composites (NFRCs) have environmentfriendly property. The major objective of this paper is to investigate the dynamic characteristics of the vehicles whose body parts are made from NFRCs. The free interface component mode synthesis method was employed to set up the dynamic system model possessing nonlinear and coupled rigidelastic properties. Then the vibration characteristics of the vehicle under different road and engine excitation conditions were simulated in timehistory. The obtained results were compared with those of vehicles having steel body parts. Based on the above study, the design principle of vehicle bodies made by NFRCs was proposed. This would provide theoretical basis for the large scale applications of NFRCs in automobile industry.

Key words: natural fiber reinforced composites, vehicle dynamics, component mode synthesis