Sheet Material Stiffness via Hexagonal Triangular Concave-Convex Pattern
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sheet materials with concave-convex patterns struggle to achieve optimal stiffness and weight reduction while maintaining low anisotropy, and there is a need for materials with enhanced stiffness and cost-effectiveness for applications in vehicle panels and laminated structures.
Innovation Solution
A sheet material with a specially designed concave-convex pattern formed by three virtual reference planes, featuring hexagonal and triangular unit areas, and protruding areas that connect these units, providing superior bending stiffness and energy absorption characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional concave-convex patterns are formed on sheet material, then stiffness is increased, but weight reduction and cost-effectiveness are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The sheet material surface is segmented into multiple protruding parts arranged in a specific pattern, where each protruding part acts as an independent stiffness-enhancing element. This segmentation allows the structure to achieve high stiffness through geometric configuration rather than increasing material quantity, thereby reducing weight while maintaining structural rigidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from conventional two-dimensional flat patterns to a three-dimensional structure with protruding parts having specific heights and cross-sectional shapes. This dimensional change enables the sheet material to achieve superior stiffness characteristics by utilizing the third dimension (height) to create moment of inertia without proportionally increasing weight.
2Strength
If conventional concave-convex patterns are formed on sheet material, then stiffness is increased, but anisotropy is not sufficiently reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The protruding parts are designed with asymmetric cross-sectional shapes and are arranged in asymmetric patterns relative to the sheet material. This asymmetry, when properly configured, creates balanced stiffness characteristics in multiple directions, reducing anisotropy while maintaining high overall stiffness. The specific arrangement ensures that stiffness is evenly distributed across different orientations.
3Strength
If sheet thickness is increased to improve stiffness, then stiffness is enhanced, but weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of changing the material parameter (thickness), the invention changes the geometric parameters of the surface structure by forming protruding parts with specific heights, widths, and spacing. This parameter transformation allows stiffness enhancement through geometric configuration rather than material quantity, achieving weight reduction while maintaining or improving stiffness characteristics.
Data Source
AI summary
A sheet material (1) includes a stiffness-increasing concave-convex part (20). A first reference plane (K1), an intermediate reference plane (K3), and a second reference plane (K2) serve as a reference system. The intermediate reference plane is partitioned by first lattice straight lines (L1), second lattice straight lines (L2), and third lattice straight lines (L3) so as to define hexagonal unit areas (24) and triangular unit areas (25) in the intermediate reference plane. Areas that include a plurality of the hexagonal unit areas and the triangular unit areas are designated as first, second and third reference areas (214, 224, 234), respectively. Combinations thereof constitute new first, second and third reference areas (213, 223, 233), respectively. The concave-convex part includes first areas (21) and second areas (22), which respectively include the new first reference areas and the new second reference areas, and third areas (23), which include the new third reference areas.