Vehicle Support Pillar with Segmented Hollow Channels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle frame components face detrimental wear and deformation due to operational stresses, making it challenging to reinforce them without degrading performance by adding mass, especially with hollow interior portions that can be structurally weaker or stronger depending on extrusion functions.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle support structure with elongated pillars featuring hollow portions containing rectangular and non-parallelogram channels, which enhance structural rigidity and reinforcement by distributing stresses effectively, thereby preventing deformation and breakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If frame mass is increased by adding reinforcements to the support structure, then wear effects are decreased, but vehicle performance is degraded due to added mass
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is divided into multiple compartments by crossbeams extending through the hollow interior portion. This segmentation creates multiple smaller structural units that collectively provide reinforcement while maintaining the overall hollow configuration, thereby improving wear resistance without proportionally increasing mass.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure combines hollow interior portions with internal crossbeam reinforcements to create a composite structural system. This composite design integrates the lightweight benefits of hollow sections with the strength of internal reinforcements, achieving improved wear resistance while minimizing mass penalty.
2Weight of moving object
If hollow interior portions are used in support members, then mass is reduced, but structural strength is compromised making them subject to deformation and breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow interior portion is segmented into multiple compartments by crossbeams, which divide the large hollow space into smaller sections. This segmentation prevents buckling and deformation by creating multiple smaller structural units that are inherently more stable, thereby maintaining structural strength while preserving the mass benefits of hollow construction.
Solution Approach 2:
Crossbeams are added as internal structural elements extending through the hollow interior, introducing a new dimensional framework within the existing hollow structure. This internal framework provides additional load-bearing paths and structural stability without significantly increasing external dimensions or mass.
3Stability of the object's composition
If support members are reinforced with multiple crossbeams, then structural rigidity is enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple crossbeams are merged into a single integrated hollow structure during manufacturing, forming a unified component rather than separate parts. This merging approach enhances structural rigidity through the combined effect of multiple beams while simplifying assembly and reducing the number of discrete components, thereby managing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments are directed to a support structure for use with a vehicle, the vehicle having a frame to which the support structure is attached. The support structure can include an elongated pillar defining a hollow portion extending therethrough. The elongated pillar can also define at least two rectangular channels approximately rectangular in cross-section extending through the hollow portion along a direction of elongation of the pillar. The elongated pillar can also define one other channel having a non-parallelogram cross-section extending through the hollow portion along a direction of elongation of the pillar.