Lightweight Vehicle Frame Rail With Variable Thickness Web Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional automotive vehicle frame rails are excessively heavy, contributing to low fuel efficiency and requiring uniform material thickness, which is not optimized across different regions, and the hydro-forming process is expensive, necessitating frequent re-tooling.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight vehicle frame rail design featuring a pair of elongated structural members with flanges and substantially planar metallic web panels that form a box beam structure, where the web panels have a material thickness less than the structural members, allowing for weight reduction without compromising performance, and can be made from the same or different materials, including composite materials like carbon fibers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If conventional uniform thickness material is used throughout the frame rail, then manufacturing is simpler, but weight is excessive and fuel efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The frame rail employs varying material thickness across different sections, with thicker material at high-stress locations (elongated structural members) and thinner material in less critical areas (web panels). This local quality differentiation reduces overall weight while maintaining structural integrity and avoiding excessive manufacturing complexity.
2Weight of moving object
If hydro-forming process is used to create lightweight frame rails, then weight is reduced, but manufacturing cost increases and re-tooling is required frequently
Solution Approach 1:
The frame rail is segmented into distinct components (elongated structural members and web panels) that can be manufactured separately using conventional processes and then assembled. This segmentation avoids the need for expensive hydro-forming equipment and frequent re-tooling, while still achieving weight reduction through optimized material distribution.
3Weight of moving object
If material thickness is reduced in web panels, then weight is reduced, but structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The frame rail employs varying material thickness across different sections, with thicker material at high-stress locations (elongated structural members) and thinner material in less critical areas (web panels). This local quality differentiation reduces overall weight while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame rail combines different materials strategically - using thicker, high-strength materials for elongated structural members that require maximum strength, and thinner, lighter materials for web panels where weight reduction is prioritized. This composite approach optimizes the strength-to-weight ratio across the entire structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A frame rail for a vehicle has a pair of elongated structural members, each one of the pair of elongated structural members having flanges protruding from lateral edges thereof. The flanges of one of the pair of elongated structural members extend in a direction toward the flanges of the other one of the pair of elongated structural members. The frame rail also has first and second metallic web panels interconnecting the pair of elongated structural members. Overall, the frame rail has a box beam structure, wherein at least a major portion of each one of the first and second metallic web panels has a material thickness that is less than a material thickness of at least a major portion of each one of the pair of elongated structural members.