Why are car bumpers mostly made of plastic?

During the selection process, some team members believed that the soft bumpers lacked protection capabilities, which affected the safety performance of the entire vehicle. There are also some drivers who struggle with the sturdiness of the bumper and are concerned about the materials used.

●What kind of material is used for ordinary car bumpers?

In fact, the front and rear bumpers of early cars were mainly made of metal materials. They are usually stamped from steel plates and riveted or welded to the frame rails. However, for various reasons, automakers have found a better alternative to plastic bumpers. Fiat used plastic bumpers for the first time. Since then, this money-saving plan has been quickly imitated by major car companies.

●Plastic bumpers are not because of cutting corners

In daily life, we often hear various complaints from car friends about car bumpers. Many people think that the plastic bumpers used in Japanese cars are not strong enough and are suspected of cutting corners. So why is the bumper made of plastic? There are many reasons, but we will not discuss them in depth today, but start with some relatively simple reasons.

●Why do automakers use plastic bumpers?

①Controllable manufacturing cost, easy to design and produce

Automobile production has taken shape. In addition to using high-strength materials for the body, many parts will also use engineering plastics as much as possible. The front bumper and rear bumper of a car are typical representatives, and the exterior parts of the body (such as mudguards) can also be made of lightweight materials (such as plastic).

Plastic bumpers can not only save manufacturing costs, but also have lower requirements for industry standards and are easier to produce. Therefore, after controlling the manufacturing cost of automobiles, the price of products to consumers will be more reasonable, and this needs to be corresponding.

Of course, in addition to plastic bumpers, some sports cars will also use carbon fiber materials. In fact, the purpose is very simple, mainly to create a lightweight body, thereby enhancing the vehicle's acceleration and braking effects.

②Plastic bumpers absorb energy to ensure pedestrian safety as much as possible

After all, the rigidity of the car is not borne by the bumper, but mainly depends on the frame structure of the body. Therefore, in addition to the design and manufacturing costs, plastic insurance can also play a role in protecting pedestrians.

Due to material reasons, plastic bumpers are more elastic than metal and have better shock absorption capabilities. Therefore, we can often see pictures of bicycles hitting bumpers on the Internet. Consider, if you switch to metal bumpers, then pedestrians and bicycles are likely to be tragic.

③The plastic bumper is elastic, which can avoid slight bumps

In the event of a slight collision or scratch, the plastic bumper has good elasticity and has a certain impact resistance, which means that if the bumper is small, the plastic bumper will rebound and repair automatically. Even if the paint comes off, it is better than dents. After all, painting is much cheaper than sheet metal repair.

In addition, in some densely populated countries in Europe, there are a large number of cars and naturally few parking spaces. Car owners often have to bring their cars close to each other. At this time, plastic bumpers play a key role. If your car can’t squeeze into a smaller parking space, you can push it forward or backward slowly at a slow speed to "push up" the parking space you need.

Especially in the crowded streets of London, parking without a handbrake is natural, so it is also convenient for others to park. If one day you find someone "scratching" the bumper while parking, please don't make a fuss, this is the "hidden rule" we mentioned earlier. Of course, this mainly represents those cheap cars, such as the bumpers of Lamborghini, Veyron and Rolls-Royce, which cannot be done because they usually use carbon fiber materials and the maintenance cost of body scratches is not very low.

④The plastic bumper has better anti-corrosion effect

For the car body, we all know that metal is easy to rust when mixed with water and air, which not only affects the appearance, but also has certain safety risks. However, although car bumpers are parts that are prone to collision in daily driving, plastics have good corrosion resistance and we don't need to worry.

●Misunderstandings about bumpers

Many people believe that bumpers will play an important role in resisting impact and are directly related to vehicle safety. In fact, the rigidity of the car is not borne by the bumper, it mainly depends on the design of the body frame, which means that the thickness and material of the bumper cannot directly determine the safety of the vehicle. Therefore, in general, different bumpers may differ on smaller bumpers, but they are usually susceptible to damage from larger collisions.

●Misunderstanding of car bumper modification

Many off-road enthusiasts modify metal bumpers for their cars. In fact, its main purpose is to improve the impact resistance of the body, and the good deviation and approach angles brought by the short rod.

But the negative impact of this modification is also great. First of all, if you accidentally hit a pedestrian, the consequences of the collision between the metal and the body are unimaginable. You need to know that pedestrians have always been a disadvantaged group on family roads, so hitting pedestrians is equivalent to finding something for yourself. Therefore, the huge metal bumper is equivalent to a time bomb and can be ignited at any time.

In addition, metal parts will increase the weight of the car body, thereby affecting fuel consumption and braking effect. Therefore, the editor recommends that you make reasonable modifications. Unless your modifications are used for professional competitions, we do not agree with this approach.

Introduction: The use of plastic bumpers can be said to be beneficial to both buyers and sellers. It can not only protect pedestrians, but also provide help for future maintenance.

Therefore, because the function of the bumper is different from the anti-collision steel beam, the rigidity of the car cannot be measured by the softness and hardness of the bumper, so why not use plastic as the "outer coating" of the car? At present, it should be regarded as an ideal material for car bumpers at this stage.