Vehicle Front Body Member Flange Contact Welding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing front body members for vehicles are prone to separation during small overlap collisions due to normal tension loads on spot welds, which can lead to ineffective energy transfer and increased damage, as they are designed with spot welds in the width direction, making them vulnerable to peel stress.
Innovation Solution
The design of an integrated front body member with upper and lower flanges that are surface-to-surface contact to minimize normal tension loads and maximize shear loads, featuring an internal space with a bulkhead for reinforcement, and engaging inner and outer perimeter surfaces to enhance collision energy transfer and absorption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the front body member is mounted with spot welds in the width direction to transfer collision energy, then the collision energy transfer capability is improved, but the spot welds are vulnerable to normal tension loads and peel stress causing separation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the welding direction from the width direction (horizontal) to the height direction (vertical) by reorienting the front body member. This dimensional change allows spot welds to engage with the front side member in a direction perpendicular to the collision force, converting the stress type from normal tension/peel stress to primarily shear stress, thereby improving weld reliability while maintaining energy transfer capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the orientation parameter of the front body member from horizontal (width direction) to vertical (height direction). This parameter change fundamentally alters the stress distribution on spot welds, transforming the dominant stress type from normal tension to shear stress, which the welds can better withstand during collision
2Strength
If multiple parts are provided in the front body member to enhance energy absorption, then the energy absorption capability is improved, but the complexity of the structure increases and separation risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate parts into a single integrated front body member with a unified structure. This integration maintains the energy absorption functionality through the overall geometry and material properties while eliminating the complexity of assembling and coordinating multiple separate components, and reducing the risk of separation at interfaces between parts
3Strength
If multiple parts are provided in the front body member to enhance energy absorption, then the energy absorption capability is improved, but the likelihood of separation increases when one part fails
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functional elements into a single monolithic front body member structure. This merging eliminates the interfaces between separate parts where separation could occur, ensuring that if one region absorbs energy, the integrated structure prevents cascading failure and maintains overall structural integrity throughout the collision event
Data Source
AI summary
A front body member which transfers collision energy to a front side member, or allows collision energy to be absorbed by the front side member at a time of a vehicle collision, may include an upper portion and a lower portion with respect to a height direction of the vehicle body, in which the upper portion and the lower portion of the front body member further include an upper flange and a lower flange, respectively, which are formed along perimeters of the upper portion and the lower portion to be in surface-to-surface contact with each other, and an empty space is formed in each of the upper portion and the lower portion of the front body member for a target internal space to be formed in the front body member when the upper flange and the lower flange are in surface-to-surface contact with each other.