Side Door Reinforcement Layout for Lightweight Side-Impact Load Transfer

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing vehicle-body structures face challenges in reducing vehicle weight while maintaining or enhancing collision load absorption performance during side collisions, as conventional designs often require additional weighty reinforcement components.

Innovation Solution

The vehicle-body structure incorporates a side door with reinforcement portions that overlap with vehicle-body frame members, providing high rigidity to suppress deformation and efficiently transmit collision loads to the frame members, thereby maintaining contact and dispersing loads without the need for thick impact bars or increased frame members.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Strength

If a frame portion and reinforcement portion are provided in the side door to improve collision load absorption performance, then the door's rigidity and load-bearing capability are improved, but the weight of the door and vehicle increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecollision load absorption performanceVSAvoiddoor weight
Core Design Contradiction:
StrengthVSWeight of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the frame portion and reinforcement portion into a single integrated structure. The frame portion itself is designed with reinforced sections that serve dual purposes: maintaining door structure and absorbing collision loads. This eliminates the need for separate reinforcement components, thereby improving collision load absorption without proportionally increasing door weight

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local reinforcement to specific high-stress areas of the frame portion rather than uniformly strengthening the entire door structure. The frame portion includes selectively positioned reinforced sections that provide maximum collision load absorption capability while minimizing additional material usage and weight increase

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Stability of the object's composition

If the door panel portion is made more rigid to prevent deformation during side collision, then the door's structural integrity is improved, but the door's weight increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedoor panel rigidityVSAvoiddoor panel weight
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSWeight of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local reinforcement to specific high-stress areas of the frame portion rather than uniformly strengthening the entire door structure. The frame portion includes selectively positioned reinforced sections that provide maximum collision load absorption capability while minimizing additional material usage and weight increase

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The frame portion is pre-configured with specific geometric features and reinforced sections that are designed to deform in a controlled manner during collision. This preliminary structural design allows the door to absorb collision loads through predetermined deformation paths, maintaining panel rigidity where needed while managing overall weight

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3770045B1Vehicle-body structure of vehicle, and vehicle
Publication Date: 2023.08.23 MAZDA MOTOR CORP

AI summary

A side door comprises a door panel portion and a reinforcement portion (a lower-side reinforcement portion and others). The door panel portion is provided to cover an opening portion for entrance and configured such that its peripheral part overlaps with an opening-portion-forming vehicle-body frame member (a side sill and others) in a vehicle side view. The reinforcement portion is provided at the peripheral part of the door panel portion such that it overlaps with the opening-portion-forming vehicle-body frame member in the vehicle side view, thereby reinforcing the peripheral part of the door panel portion against a collision load applied to the side door from a vehicle side. The reinforcement portion is provided at a portion of the peripheral part of the door panel portion which includes a part corresponding to the vehicle-width-direction-extending vehicle-body frame member (a first floor cross member and others).