Vehicle Body Structure With Two-Path Small-Overlap Load Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing vehicle body structures for small overlap collisions fail to effectively distribute impact loads through two load paths, leading to inefficient energy absorption and potential deformation issues.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle body structure featuring a side member with a closed cross-section, a hood ridge member, and a joint member with closed cross-sections, where the joint member is joined to an inclined face of the side member, allowing for the impact load to be divaricated into two load paths, enhancing energy absorption and distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the front end of the side member and the front end of the joint member are arranged side by side, then the structure is simplified, but the impact load is not properly distributed to both load paths
Solution Approach 1:
The joint member is positioned not directly at the front end but at a position below the front end, utilizing the vertical dimension. This spatial arrangement allows the impact load to be effectively distributed to both the side member and joint member through the inclined face, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and load distribution effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The inclined face acts as an intermediary element between the joint member and the side member. It provides a gradual transition surface that facilitates proper load distribution from the impact point through both load paths, ensuring effective energy absorption while maintaining structural integrity
2Weight of moving object
If the horizontal width of the side member is reduced in the rear section, then the overall vehicle weight is reduced, but the structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The side member features different horizontal widths at different sections: a larger width at the front section for strength and load bearing, and a reduced width at the rear section for weight reduction. This local variation in geometry optimizes both strength and weight requirements simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The transitional section with gradually changing horizontal width creates a dynamic geometry that smoothly transitions from the front section to the rear section. This gradual transition prevents stress concentration while achieving weight reduction, resolving the contradiction between strength and weight
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle body structure includes a side member that extends forward from a lower portion of a bulkhead, which separates a front section of a vehicle body from a passenger compartment, and has a closed cross-section; a hood ridge member that extends from a joint portion of an upper portion of the bulkhead and an A-pillar and has a closed cross-section; and a joint member that extends downward from a front end of the hood ridge member and has a closed cross-section. The side member includes a front section that is provided at a predetermined length range from a front end thereof and has a constant first horizontal width, a rear section that is provided behind the front section and has a second horizontal width smaller than the first horizontal width, and a transitional section that is provided between the front section and the rear section and whose horizontal width gradually changes from the first horizontal width to the second horizontal width. An inclined face directed laterally outward and rearward is formed on an outer side face of the transitional section. A front end of the joint member is joined to the side member at the front section and the inclined face of the transitional section.