Polymeric Front Underrun Beam Structure for Lightweight Crash Absorption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing front underrun protection devices for heavy vehicles, while required to meet strength and load absorption regulations, are often heavy due to their steel composition, necessitating a lighter alternative that maintains performance.
Innovation Solution
A front underrun protection device featuring a beam entirely made of plastic or polymeric material, with a housing beam member and reinforcement beam members containing transversal and longitudinal wall elements that absorb load and provide structural support, allowing for a lightweight yet robust design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If conventional steel materials are used for the front underrun protection device, then strength and load absorption meet regulatory requirements, but the device weight is high leading to increased fuel consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from steel to plastic/polymer, fundamentally altering the density and strength characteristics. This material substitution enables weight reduction while maintaining protective function through optimized structural design of the beam with channels and reinforcement elements
Solution Approach 2:
The beam structure combines housing beam member with reinforcement beam members featuring wall elements, creating a composite polymeric structure. This composite approach allows the plastic material to achieve the mechanical performance previously only attainable with steel, resolving the contradiction between weight and strength
2Weight of moving object
If the beam is made entirely of plastic or polymeric material, then weight is reduced and fuel consumption decreases, but manufacturing complexity increases due to the need for channels and reinforcement beam members
Solution Approach 1:
The beam is segmented into a housing beam member and separate reinforcement beam members that fit into channels. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently using optimized processes, then assembled together, reducing overall manufacturing complexity despite the sophisticated final structure
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement beam members are nested within channels of the housing beam member, with wall elements fitting precisely into the channel structures. This nesting arrangement simplifies assembly and allows for modular manufacturing, where components can be produced separately and then integrated
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a front underrun protection device for a heavy vehicle comprising a beam configured to extend from side to side of the vehicle at a lower front position thereof and to absorb collision energy. The beam is at least partly made of a plastic or polymeric material. The beam comprises a housing beam member having at least one channel extending along the housing beam member, and at least one reinforcement beam member adapted to fit into the channel of the housing beam member. The reinforcement beam member is arranged in the channel and arranged to extend along the housing beam member. The reinforcement beam member is provided with a plurality of wall elements comprising transversal wall elements distributed along and extending across the reinforcement beam member and longitudinal wall elements extending in a longitudinal direction of the reinforcement beam member between the transversal wall elements.