Conical Bushing Mount for Vehicle Support Members Under Transverse Load
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motor vehicle support members, such as bumper crossbeams, struggle to effectively absorb impacts and transverse forces due to limitations in welding techniques, particularly with MIG or MAG welding, which result in reduced ductility and poor absorption of jerky impacts or lateral forces.
Innovation Solution
A motor vehicle support member design featuring a conical collar and bushing configuration that allows for form-fitting and force-fitting engagement, enabling laser welding or adhesive bonding, thereby distributing transverse forces over a greater area and compensating for tolerances, and providing a reservoir of material for secure attachment without additional support measures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If MIG or MAG welding is used to connect the bushing to the shell, then the bushing can be securely attached to the support member, but the ductility of the joining partners is lost and jerky impacts or lateral forces cannot be absorbed well
Solution Approach 1:
The connection between bushing and shell is segmented into multiple functions: the conical collar provides form-fit engagement, the flared geometry provides force-fit engagement, and laser welding provides material bonding. This segmentation allows each element to contribute differently to the overall connection, preserving ductility while achieving secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection combines multiple joining mechanisms (form-fit, force-fit, and laser welding) into a composite connection system. This composite approach leverages the advantages of each method while mitigating their individual disadvantages, particularly preserving ductility while achieving strong attachment.
2Strength
If the bushing is attached using conventional welding methods, then a secure connection is achieved, but additional support measures on the wall of a single shell are required to meet mechanical requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The collar is pre-formed with a flared geometry that creates both form-fit and force-fit engagement with the bushing before welding occurs. This preliminary geometric configuration prepares the connection to bear loads independently, reducing reliance on additional support measures during and after welding.
Solution Approach 2:
The collar features a conical/flared curved geometry that engages with the bushing through surface contact. This curvature creates a mechanically advantageous connection that distributes forces across a larger area, reducing the need for additional support structures on the shell wall.
3Strength
If the bushing is connected to the shell with a weld seam, then material bonding is achieved, but the notch effect is high and the weld seam does not meet mechanical requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The connection geometry is changed from a conventional flat or cylindrical interface to a conical/flared interface. This parameter change in geometry creates a more favorable welding configuration that reduces notch effects and improves weld seam quality while maintaining material bonding strength.
4Force
If transverse forces are introduced into the shell through the weld seam, then the bushing connection is secured, but the forces create high stress concentration on the weld seam
Solution Approach 1:
The force transmission path is extended from a single-point weld connection to a distributed contact interface created by the flared collar geometry. This dimensional change in the connection interface distributes transverse forces across a larger area, reducing stress concentration on the weld seam.
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 enhances the absorption of transverse forces and bending moments, ensures a durable and solid connection, and allows for high-force introduction into the shell, while minimizing stress on weld seams, thus improving the overall mechanical performance and durability of the support member.
Implementation Method 1
the lateral surface of the bushing and the recess engage in one another in a complementary manner. Due to the complementary conicity of the two components, the bushing is held in such a recess not only in a form-fitting but also in a force-fitting manner
Implementation Method 2
the bushing is held in such a recess not only in a form-fitting but also in a force-fitting manner
Implementation Method 3
enabling laser welding or adhesive bonding
Implementation Method 4
enabling laser welding or adhesive bonding
Implementation Method 5
the collar has been flared by forming, as a result of which it undergoes a certain strain hardening in its bending zone
Data Source
AI summary
A motor vehicle support member 1 is described having a structured shell 5 having a wall W, into which wall 5 a recess is introduced, and having a bushing 4 held in the recess of wall 5 for receiving and/or mounting another component connectable thereto, wherein the recess has a conical collar 6, flared in the longitudinal direction of the bushing 4, as a receptacle for the bushing 4, to which the bushing 4 is fixed, wherein the bushing 4 includes a conical lateral surface 7 in the section in which it is fixed to the collar (6, 6a . . . 6f). A method for producing such a support member 1 is also described.