Structural design and test of automobile bonnet with natural flax composite through impact damage analysis

In this study, it was performed structural design and analysis of the automobile bonnet with natural flax composite. The composite structure is weak to external impact damage. Therefore, the structural design through impact damage analysis was performed. For manufacturing flax/vinyl ester applied composite, RTM (resin transfer molding), which is a manufacturing process suitable for light weight and mass production, was applied. The impact test of specimen was performed to analyze the safety of structure from impact. In addition, compression strength test was performed for specimen applied with impact to measure residual strength of structure after impact to analyze structural behavior. Through the structural design and test, it is confirmed that the designed bonnet structure is acceptable.