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Method of forming a vehicle body structure from a pre-welded blank assembly

A body and vehicle technology, applied in the direction of upper structure, vehicle parts, upper structure sub-assembly, etc., can solve the problems of increasing structural weight

Inactive Publication Date: 2015-11-04
GM GLOBAL TECH OPERATIONS LLC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Also, the rivets add weight to the structure, which at some point may begin to offset the weight reduction gains achieved by substituting aluminum alloys for steel

Method used

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  • Method of forming a vehicle body structure from a pre-welded blank assembly
  • Method of forming a vehicle body structure from a pre-welded blank assembly
  • Method of forming a vehicle body structure from a pre-welded blank assembly

Examples

Experimental program
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Embodiment Construction

[0049] refer to Figures 1 to 5 A method of forming a vehicle body structure is shown and described. The vehicle body structure described herein is a type of automotive strut 10 ( Figure 5 ), known in the industry as the B-pillar, but may be any other body structure made from an aluminum alloy base slab and reinforced by at least one aluminum alloy liner slab. Other such vehicle body structures include underbody cross members, roof frames, and side members. Furthermore, while the methods are depicted and described with certain process steps performed in a certain sequence, more or fewer steps and different sequences may be performed in applications not depicted and described here, some of which are set forth below.

[0050] figure 1 A preferred method for forming the automotive strut 10 is schematically depicted, along with associated equipment. The illustrated method includes an uncoiling step 12, a placing step 14, a pre-welding step 16, a deforming step 18 and an optio...

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Abstract

A method of forming a vehicle body structure includes pre-welding a patch blank to a base blank with a series of resistance spot welds to form a pre-welded blank assembly. After pre-welding, the pre-welded blank assembly is deformed into the vehicle body structure. The deformation of the pre-welded blank assembly is carried out by a suitable metalworking process, such as stamping, and results in concurrent deformation of the base blank and the patch blank. Following deformation of the pre-welded blank assembly, additional weld joints may optionally be formed between the base blank and the patch blank, wherever desired, to better secure the blanks together.

Description

technical field [0001] The technical field of the present disclosure relates generally to vehicle body structures and, more particularly, to methods for forming vehicle body structures having an aluminum alloy floor blank reinforced by an aluminum alloy liner blank. Background technique [0002] The skeleton of the vehicle includes several integrally formed vehicle body structures. In a motor vehicle, for example, the vehicle body structure typically includes an underbody cross member, a roof frame, A-pillars, B-pillars, and C-pillars, and side members. When fastened together, those structures support a wide range of automotive parts, including doors, hoods, decklids, and rear roof sides. The vehicle body structure described above may include a base slab reinforced by a liner slab to provide additional structure supported at the intended location, wherein each slab is typically formed from steel. [0003] Automakers have begun replacing steel with aluminum alloys where pos...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(China)
IPC IPC(8): B23P15/00
CPCB23P15/00B62D25/00B21D22/20B21D35/007B21D53/88B23K11/115B23K26/22B23K26/32B23K2101/006B23K2101/185B23K2103/10B23K11/002B23K11/11
Inventor M.A.纳尔逊L.J.康拉德
Owner GM GLOBAL TECH OPERATIONS LLC