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During driving, automobile and light truck occupants interface with almost all the components in the passenger compartment. These components are expected to provide not only ease of access to controls and comfort to the occupants, but also the necessary protection to decrease the likelihood of injuries during accidents. The passing of the revised Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No 201 is aimed at improving the overall safety of vehicle occupants during impact situations Amendments are specifically focused at improving the protection provided by the upper compartment components, i e, header, rail, pillar and roof trim panels, to the occupants' heads impacting at high velocities. The present paper reviews the requirements established by the revised federal legislation and the design and material options to meet the requirements, and describes a systematic approach for designing and engineering trim panels for head impact protection

The opportunity for composites in engine closure systems such as valve covers, oil pans, and timing belt covers is expanding rapidly. The primary driving forces are lighter weight finished components, integrated designs, improved isolation of engine noise, improved materials systems, and matured manufacturing processes for composite materials. Thermoset-based composite materials, particularly those based on high-temperature resistant epoxy vinyl ester matrices, offer improved performance with respect to thermoplastic and thermoset polyester-based composites and can be manufactured using different processing methods. This paper presents the current state-of-the-art design, engineering and optimization techniques for engine closure systems. The performance requirements of different systems such as valve covers and oil pans are explained in detail. Techniques for long-term structural stiffness evaluation, vibration performance assessment and noise transmission estimation are described.