Vehicle Door Reinforcement for Side Collision Load Dispersion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle-body structures face challenges in reducing weight while maintaining or enhancing collision load absorption performance during side collisions, as conventional door structures often require additional components that increase weight.
Innovation Solution
The vehicle-body structure incorporates reinforcement portions at the door panel that overlap with the vehicle-body frame member, allowing the door panel to maintain contact and disperse collision loads efficiently, thereby reducing weight and enhancing collision load absorption without increasing the vehicle's weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional door structures with frame members and guard bars are used to improve collision load absorption, then the collision load absorption performance is improved, but the vehicle weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the guard bar component from the conventional door structure. Instead of using a separate guard bar, the door inner panel itself is designed with a specific configuration (including reinforcement portions and engagement portions) that enables it to directly engage with and transmit collision loads to the vehicle-body frame member, thereby achieving the same protective function without the additional weight of a guard bar
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the functions of the door inner panel and the guard bar into a single integrated structure. The door inner panel is designed to directly engage with the vehicle-body frame member through engagement portions, combining the load-bearing and protective functions that were previously distributed across separate components (door inner panel + guard bar), thus reducing overall weight while maintaining collision load absorption performance
2Strength
If the door panel portion deforms under collision load, then the collision load is absorbed, but the door panel comes into the cabin compromising safety
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by providing reinforcement portions at specific locations of the door inner panel (peripheral portions) that overlap with the vehicle-body frame member in the vehicle side view. These localized reinforcement areas maintain the overall flexibility of the door panel for load absorption while preventing excessive deformation in critical areas that would cause the door to intrude into the cabin
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement portions of the door inner panel are designed to preliminarily engage with the vehicle-body frame member before collision occurs. This preliminary engagement establishes a mechanical connection that guides the door panel's deformation path during collision, ensuring that the panel absorbs load through controlled deformation while maintaining its position and preventing intrusion into the cabin
Data Source
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AI summary
A vehicle-body structure of a vehicle comprises a front side door provided so as to open and close an opening portion for entrance which is formed by a vehicle-body frame member. The front side door comprises a door panel portion and reinforcement portions provided at a peripheral part of the door panel portion such that at least part of the reinforcement portions overlaps with the vehicle-body frame member in a vehicle side view, the reinforcement portions being configured to reinforce the door panel portion such that when a collision load is inputted to the front side door in a vehicle side collision, a connection state of the door panel portion and the vehicle-body frame member is maintained.