Hollow Stabilizer Quenching for Harder Bent Sections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hollow stabilizers face challenges with low strength and flexural rigidity due to their hollow structure, and bent sections often experience insufficient quenching, leading to low hardness and increased stress concentrations.
Innovation Solution
A method for manufacturing a pipe-shaped hollow stabilizer with specific t/D ratio and enhanced quenching process, including clamping, coolant jetting, and swinging to ensure uniform hardness and improved fatigue resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If hollow structure is used for stabilizer, then weight is reduced, but mechanical strength and flexural rigidity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the t/D ratio parameter to be 0.18 or more but less than 0.275, which balances weight reduction with maintaining sufficient mechanical strength and flexural rigidity. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction by finding the optimal range where the hollow structure provides weight savings while retaining adequate structural performance.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional quenching method is used, then manufacturing process is simple, but bent sections have insufficient hardness due to poor coolant access
Solution Approach 1:
The quenching process is segmented into two distinct stages: first quenching the arm sections, then quenching the bent sections after rotating the stabilizer by 90 degrees. This segmentation allows each section to receive adequate coolant exposure and achieve the required hardness, resolving the contradiction between process simplicity and hardness uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The stabilizer is dynamically repositioned (rotated 90 degrees) during the quenching process to change the orientation of bent sections relative to the coolant flow. This dynamic adjustment ensures that bent sections, which are difficult to cool effectively in the initial position, receive sufficient coolant exposure for proper hardening.
3Strength
If t/D ratio is increased to improve strength, then flexural rigidity is improved, but weight reduction benefit is diminished
Solution Approach 1:
The invention defines an optimal t/D ratio range of 0.18 or more but less than 0.275, which balances flexural rigidity improvement with weight reduction benefits. By constraining the t/D ratio within this specific range, the invention prevents excessive wall thickness that would negate weight savings while ensuring sufficient structural strength.
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 method produces a high-strength, lightweight hollow stabilizer with improved hardness and fatigue resistance, particularly in bent sections, addressing the structural weaknesses of conventional hollow stabilizers.
Implementation Method 1
quenching the bent section by jetting a coolant onto an outer surface of an inner bend side of the bent section
Implementation Method 2
As the heat treatment, quenching and tempering are performed
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
A hollow stabilizer (1) has a tubular shape and is provided with: a torsion section (1a) that is provided to a vehicle and that extends in the vehicle width direction; an arm section (lb) that extends in the front-back direction of the vehicle; and bent sections (1c, 1c) that connect the torsion section (1a) and the arm section (lb). The hollow stabilizer (1) is characterized in that the hardness of the outer surface (1e) of the bent inner sides (lcl, 1c2) of the bent sections (1c, 1c) is 70% or more with respect to the hardness of the outer surface (1e) of the arm section (lb).