Motor Vehicle Carrier Element Using Rolled Tailored Strip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current motor vehicle support elements, such as door sills and side members, require complex manufacturing processes and additional components to achieve desired strength and rigidity, often resulting in increased weight and production costs.
Innovation Solution
A support element made from a tailored strip with varying material grades and thicknesses, forming a closed cross-sectional area through rolling, which includes a central web and flanges, allowing for optimized load adaptation and reduced production steps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If shell construction with multiple joining steps is used to achieve required strength, then strength and rigidity are improved, but manufacturing complexity and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple structural elements (shells, webs, flanges) into a single integrated rolled profile made from tailored strip. This eliminates the need for separate joining steps while maintaining the required strength and rigidity through the optimized single-piece construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies segmentation at the material level by using tailored strip with different material grades and thicknesses in different regions of the same component. This allows localized optimization of strength properties without requiring multiple separate structural elements or joining operations.
2Reliability
If additional components like sealing flanges are added to achieve sealing function, then sealing performance is improved, but device complexity and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The rolled profile is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: structural support, sealing, and attachment. The flanges are integrated into the profile itself and can serve both as structural elements and as sealing surfaces, eliminating the need for separate sealing components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the sealing function with the structural profile by integrating sealing flanges directly into the rolled profile. This merging of functions reduces the total number of components while maintaining reliable sealing performance.
3Adaptability or versatility
If tailored blanks with separated and cut metal sheets are used to adapt to load situation, then load adaptation is improved, but manufacturing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tailored strip is prepared in advance with the required material grade distribution and thickness variations before rolling. This preliminary material preparation enables the subsequent rolling process to produce the final component in a single continuous operation, avoiding time-consuming separation and cutting steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameters (grade and thickness) along the length of the strip before forming. This allows the final component to have optimized load-bearing properties in different regions without requiring post-forming separation or cutting operations.
4Strength
If thicker material is used throughout the carrier element to ensure strength, then strength is improved, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using different material thicknesses and grades in different regions of the carrier element. Thicker, higher-strength material is used only where required by the load situation, while thinner material is used in low-stress areas, optimizing the strength-to-weight ratio.
Solution Approach 2:
The tailored strip functions as a composite structure with different material properties in different regions. By combining materials of varying grades and thicknesses in a single integrated component, the design achieves high overall strength without the weight penalty of uniform thick construction.
Data Source
Figure 1a~2b
Figure 3a~3b
Figure 4a~4c
AI summary
The invention relates to a carrier element (1) for a motor vehicle composed of steel, which has at least partially a closed cross-sectional face and comprises at least one rolled profile (2, 3) manufactured from a tailored strip which extends in the longitudinal direction of the carrier element. Furthermore, the invention relates to a bodywork of a motor vehicle. The problem of making available a carrier element for a motor vehicle which can both be easily manufactured and makes available high strength levels at the same manufacturing cost is achieved by virtue of the fact that a carrier element having at least one at least partially closed cross-sectional face (5) is formed by the rolling profile.