Grid Fuel Tank Rib Structure for Fuel Surge and Crack Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fuel tanks in vehicles experience deformation and cracking due to fuel surges during bumpy rides, leading to potential fuel leakage and shifts in the vehicle's gravity center, which compromises driving safety and user experience, and existing anti-surge diaphragms are ineffective in preventing these issues.
Innovation Solution
A grid-shaped fuel tank design that partitions the cavity into middle grid cavities with shared side walls to absorb fuel impact, eliminating the need for an anti-surge diaphragm, and features fuel passing ports to reduce fuel flow impact and enhance rigidity, with optional integrated urea cavities for heat reuse and weight reduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a welding structure with a diaphragm is used to prevent fuel surge, then fuel surge prevention is attempted, but stress concentrates on the welded joint causing cracking and fuel leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel tank is divided into multiple compartments by partition ribs, creating a grid-shaped structure. This segmentation distributes the fuel surge impact across multiple smaller compartments rather than concentrating stress on a single welded diaphragm joint, thereby preventing cracking while maintaining surge prevention capability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention removes the welded diaphragm structure entirely and replaces it with integral partition ribs formed as part of the fuel tank body. This extraction eliminates the weak welded joint while preserving the fuel surge prevention function through the grid-shaped compartmentalization
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a diaphragm is welded to the tank body to reduce fuel impact, then fuel surge is attempted to be controlled, but the welding position cracks under surge pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel tank interior is segmented into multiple compartments by partition ribs, which distribute the harmful fuel impact forces across multiple locations. This segmentation prevents concentration of stress at any single welding position, eliminating cracking while maintaining impact reduction
Solution Approach 2:
The partition ribs are merged with the fuel tank body as an integral structure rather than being separate welded components. This merging eliminates the welding positions that were prone to cracking while maintaining the fuel impact reduction function through the grid-shaped compartmentalization
3Device complexity
If the fuel tank structure is simplified without anti-surge diaphragm, then device complexity is reduced, but fuel surge prevention capability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The fuel surge prevention function is merged into the fuel tank body structure itself through integral partition ribs, eliminating the need for separate anti-surge diaphragms. This merging reduces device complexity while maintaining surge prevention capability through the grid-shaped compartmentalization
Solution Approach 2:
The partition ribs serve multiple functions: they provide structural reinforcement to the fuel tank body, create compartmentalization for fuel surge prevention, and define cavities for fuel flow management. This multi-functionality achieves surge prevention without additional components, reducing overall device complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a grid-shaped fuel tank, which belongs to the field of vehicle parts. The grid-shaped fuel tank includes a fuel tank shell, wherein the fuel tank shell encloses a cavity comprising a fuel cavity, and the fuel tank shell comprises an upper shell area in an upper portion, a middle shell area in a middle portion and a lower shell area in a lower portion; the cavity is internally provided with a middle grid rib structure corresponding to a height area of a middle shell, the middle grid rib structure partitions a middle portion of the cavity into a plurality of middle grid cavities, the middle grid cavities do not communicate in a radial direction, and a bottom end of a first middle grid cavity group comprised in the middle grid cavities is provided with fuel passing ports for mutual communication to form the fuel cavity.