Vehicle Knuckle Continuous Space and Through-Hole Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle knuckles face challenges in achieving weight reduction while maintaining sufficient strength and rigidity, particularly in the arm region that experiences stress loading from bending and torsion when hollowed by casting.
Innovation Solution
The vehicle knuckle design incorporates a continuous space within the strut junction and arm, featuring strategically positioned through-holes that enhance rigidity and strength by overlapping widths and using R-surfaced openings to distribute stress, along with thicker bolt hole sections for improved fastening.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the arm of the knuckle is made hollow by casting to reduce weight, then the weight of the vehicle knuckle is reduced, but the strength and rigidity become insufficient for stress loading
Solution Approach 1:
The arm is divided into multiple wall sections with through-holes created at specific locations. This segmentation allows material removal for weight reduction while maintaining structural integrity through the strategic placement of remaining wall sections that resist bending and torsional stresses.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the arm have different wall thicknesses and structural characteristics. The wall sections are designed with varying thicknesses - thinner in non-critical areas for weight reduction and thicker in areas subject to high stress concentrations, creating local quality variations that optimize both weight and strength.
2Weight of moving object
If the arm is made hollow with opening at center or side surface, then weight reduction is achieved, but the rigidity becomes insufficient under bending and torsion stress
Solution Approach 1:
The structural integrity is enhanced by considering three-dimensional wall section arrangements. Multiple wall sections are positioned at different angular positions around the hollow arm, creating a distributed structural framework that resists bending and torsional loads more effectively than a simple hollow tube or single-wall configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle knuckle 1 includes a main body 10, a strut junction 11 that is positioned at a first side in an extending direction of an axle supported by the main body and fastens a strut damper, and an arm 12 that couples the main body to the strut junction. The vehicle knuckle has a continuous space 17 formed inside the strut junction and the arm. The arm has a first through-hole 17a on a wall 12a that couples an end 10d at the first side of the main body to the strut junction. The first through-hole is formed, with being adjacent to the end at the first side, at the side of the main body with respect to the center of a coupling position of the wall and the main body and a coupling position of the wall and the strut junction and is communicated with the space.