Abstract
Using conventional textile techniques such as weaving braiding knitting and stitching it is possible to produce a wide range two and three dimensional fiber preforms, however so far only a limited attention has been given to knitted fabrics in composite industry. This is mainly due to the opinion that knitted fabric reinforced composites posses low mechanical properties owing to their looped fiber architecture. But it is possible to obtain desired mechanical properties by selecting proper knitted fabric structure, In this paper mechanical characteristics of kevlar plain weft knitted fabrics reinforced plastics(KFRP) are evaluated for th development of intrusion beam of car side door. Tensile bending impact properties of KFRP are measured experimentally and crush demands of Americal Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No.214(FMVSS 214) compared with the bending load and displacement of KFRP by quasi-static test method. The applicability and limitation of bending load and displacement of KFRP according to specimen size has been discussed.