Bumper Back Beam High-Strength Plastic Composite Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bumper back beams, primarily made of steel, face challenges with increasing weight and deteriorating fuel efficiency, prompting the use of composite materials like plastic and steel, but these materials often lack sufficient rigidity and are prone to rupture during collisions.
Innovation Solution
A bumper back beam design featuring an intermediate portion made of high-strength plastic and side portions made of general plastic, with overlapping sections forming a box structure and incorporating through-holes and bent grooves to enhance rigidity and energy absorption, ensuring efficient impact energy transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If steel material is used for the bumper back beam, then sufficient rigidity is ensured, but weight increases and fuel efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The bumper back beam employs a composite structure combining high-strength plastic and general plastic materials. The high-strength plastic intermediate portion provides necessary rigidity while the general plastic side portions reduce overall weight. This composite material approach resolves the contradiction by achieving sufficient structural strength without the weight penalty of solid steel construction.
2Productivity
If general-strength plastic is used for the side portion, then impact energy is easily transferred toward the vehicle body, but rigidity is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The bumper back beam applies local quality by using different plastic materials in different regions. The side portions use general-strength plastic optimized for impact energy transfer, while the intermediate portion uses high-strength plastic for rigidity. This spatial differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction between energy transfer efficiency and rigidity requirements.
3Strength
If high-strength plastic is used for the intermediate portion, then sufficient rigidity is ensured, but the connection to side portions may become a weak point
Solution Approach 1:
The high-strength plastic intermediate portion is nested within and overlaps with the general plastic side portions, creating a layered composite structure. This nesting arrangement ensures that the rigid intermediate portion is properly supported and connected by the surrounding general plastic material, eliminating potential weak points at the material interface while maintaining overall structural integrity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design provides improved rigidity and energy absorption, reducing the risk of rupture and enhancing safety for vehicles and passengers during collisions while maintaining a lighter weight and improved fuel efficiency compared to traditional steel or composite materials.
Implementation Method 1
A plurality of through-holes may be formed passing through a side wall of the box portion so as to induce buckling of the box portion with respect to a collision load. Bent grooves may be continuously formed on a side surface forming the box portion at each side portion, which induce buckling of the bent portion with respect to a collision load, thereby absorbing and transferring impact energy toward a vehicle body more easily.
Implementation Method 2
The intermediate portion 2 corresponds to a rail portion, through which the impact energy is absorbed through self-deformation when a vehicle collides.
Implementation Method 3
The side portion 1 is a crash box to be connected to a side member consisting of a vehicle body, through which impact energy is transferred toward a vehicle body while its outer form is collapsed by a load produced when the vehicle collides.
Data Source
AI summary
A bumper back beam for a vehicle may include side portions connected to a vehicle body and formed of general plastic on both sides and an intermediate portion connecting the side portions on both sides and formed of high-strength plastic and a predetermined section, both ends of which encroach into the side portions to form overlap sections.