This paper concerns automotive parts located underneath the engine and inparticular the engine oil pan. Classically made of stamped steel or castaluminum, new developments have allowed the manufacture oil pans with polyamide66 reinforced by 35% weight of short glass fiber. However, polyamides have somelimitations and the most significant is their response to localized impactloading. The nature of the impact considered here is of a typical stonecollected from the road and projected into the oil pan. Low velocity impactinvestigations were carried out using a gas gun and drop weight tower. The studyshows that the design of the oil pan has a significant contribution in the shockabsorption. In addition to the material properties, the geometry and the ribbingboth cleverly combined, increase the impact resistance of the componentsignificantly. Areas of oil pan design improvement have been identified andconclusions drawn.
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