Front Suspension Arm Breakage Zone for Small Overlap Collisions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional front suspension devices fail to adequately suppress vehicle body deformation during small overlap collisions, where the front wheel hits an obstacle, leading to significant deformation of the side sill and increased load transmission to the cabin.
Innovation Solution
A front suspension device with a suspension arm featuring a damper support portion that includes a breakage ease portion, designed to easily break under load, allowing the front wheel to separate from the vehicle body and absorb collision forces, thereby reducing vehicle body deformation. The damper support portion is strategically located near the front-wheel support and connected to the vehicle body, with a thin thickness and groove configuration to facilitate breakage and enhance load distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the suspension arm is designed with high strength to maintain structural integrity, then the reliability of the suspension system is improved, but the deformation of the vehicle body during small overlap collision increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suspension arm is segmented into two functional zones: a high-strength main body for structural integrity and a localized breakage ease portion with reduced strength. This segmentation allows the arm to maintain overall reliability while enabling controlled breakage at the fragile portion to prevent vehicle body deformation during small overlap collisions
Solution Approach 2:
The breakage ease portion is designed with locally reduced thickness and modified material properties compared to the rest of the suspension arm. This local quality change creates a predetermined weak point that fails first under collision loads, redirecting the force path away from the vehicle body and reducing harmful deformation
2Stability of the object's composition
If the suspension arm is designed to be rigid to maintain stability, then the stability of the suspension system is improved, but the collision load transmission to the cabin increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suspension arm is divided into a rigid main body for stability and a flexible breakage ease portion for load management. The rigid portion maintains suspension stability during normal operation, while the flexible portion yields during collision to reduce load transmission to the cabin
Solution Approach 2:
The breakage ease portion is designed to fail under collision loads, converting the harmful effect of rigid load transmission into a beneficial force redirection mechanism. The controlled breakage absorbs collision energy and redirects forces away from the cabin, turning potential damage into a protective mechanism
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
The suspension device effectively suppresses vehicle body deformation by allowing the front wheel to move independently from the vehicle body, reducing the transmission of collision loads and minimizing damage to the cabin during small overlap collisions.
Implementation Method 1
a damper supported at a damper support portion which is provided at a portion of the suspension arm which is positioned in the vicinity of the front-wheel support portion at a lower portion
Implementation Method 2
when the rearwardly-directed load is applied to the front-wheel support portion, the suspension arm is curved and deformed such that an outward side, in the vehicle width direction, thereof is positioned on the more rearward side of the vehicle
Data Source
AI summary
A front suspension device comprises a suspension arm, one end of which has a front-wheel support portion to support a front wheel of a vehicle and the other end of which is positioned on an inward side, in a vehicle width direction, of the front-wheel support portion and has a vehicle-body attachment portion to be attached to a vehicle-body member of the vehicle and a damper supported at a damper support portion which is provided at a portion of the suspension arm which is positioned in the vicinity of the front-wheel support portion at a lower portion thereof and connected to the vehicle-body member at an upper portion thereof. The damper support portion of the suspension arm has a breakage ease portion to cause breakage of the suspension arm.