Vehicle Bulkhead Reinforcement for Stiffness and Crashworthiness

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional vehicle bulkhead structures face challenges in efficiently providing required strength and stiffness, leading to weakened dynamic stiffness, potential joint failures in collisions, and increased weight and manufacturing costs due to varied materials and thicknesses in reinforcement members.

Innovation Solution

A vehicle bulkhead structure with distinct reinforcement members for stiffness and strength areas, where stiffness members with optimized material and thickness enhance central stiffness and strength members with high-strength materials support side portions, ensuring secure distribution of impact energy and improved crashworthiness.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Strength

If reinforcement members with different materials and thicknesses are used at various portions of the dash crossmember, then the required stiffness and strength are satisfied, but the weight and manufacturing cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestiffness and strength of dash panelVSAvoidweight of vehicle body

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSWeight of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by using reinforcement members with different materials and thicknesses at specific portions of the dash crossmember where strength and stiffness are required. The first reinforcement member has different properties than the second reinforcement member, allowing each to be optimized for its specific location's structural demands without unnecessarily increasing overall weight.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The dash crossmember is segmented into multiple portions with different reinforcement members. The first reinforcement member is coupled to a first portion while the second reinforcement member is coupled to a second portion, allowing independent optimization of each segment's properties to meet local structural requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Strength

If reinforcement members with different materials and thicknesses are used at various portions of the dash crossmember, then the required stiffness and strength are satisfied, but the manufacturing cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestiffness and strength of dash panelVSAvoidmanufacturing cost of vehicle body

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by using reinforcement members with different materials and thicknesses at specific portions of the dash crossmember where strength and stiffness are required. The first reinforcement member has different properties than the second reinforcement member, allowing each to be optimized for its specific location's structural demands without unnecessarily increasing overall weight.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The dash crossmember is segmented into multiple portions with different reinforcement members. The first reinforcement member is coupled to a first portion while the second reinforcement member is coupled to a second portion, allowing independent optimization of each segment's properties to meet local structural requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Reliability

If the dash crossmember is made with multiple reinforcement members, then the stiffness and crashworthiness are improved, but the number of components increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecrashworthiness of vehicle bodyVSAvoidnumber of components in bulkhead structure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple reinforcement members into a single integrated dash crossmember structure. The first and second reinforcement members are coupled to different portions of the same crossmember, combining their functions into one component that provides both stiffness and crashworthiness without requiring separate independent components.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The dash crossmember serves multiple functions by incorporating both the first and second reinforcement members. It simultaneously provides structural stiffness through one reinforcement member and crashworthiness through another, making the crossmember a multi-functional component that reduces overall system complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS10981604B2Vehicle bulkhead structure

Publication Date: 2021.04.20 HYUNDAI MOTOR CO LTD

AI summary

A vehicle bulkhead structure may include a dash panel; a pair of front side members spaced apart from each other and coupled to the dash panel; and a plurality of reinforcement members coupled to a front surface of the dash panel, wherein some of the plurality of reinforcement members support each front side member.