Vehicle Side Structure With Pillar-Door Beam Load Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle side structures lack direct or indirect connections between pillars and door beams, leading to increased weight and complexity in reinforcement measures, which fail to effectively withstand impacts while maintaining rigidity.
Innovation Solution
A side structure featuring a hollow pillar extending along the vehicle's up-down direction with a first bulkhead inside, overlapping a hollow door beam, and a door hinge connected to the door panel, allowing load transmission from the door beam to the pillar for enhanced rigidity, along with additional bulkheads and beads for improved impact resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If reinforcement measures increase thickness, material strength, or number of components to suppress deformation, then vehicle rigidity is improved, but vehicle weight increases and assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the pillar and door beam into an integrated structure where the door beam is directly connected to the pillar, eliminating the need for separate reinforcement components. This integration maintains structural strength while reducing the number of parts and overall weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a bulkhead structure that extends in the vehicle width direction, creating a three-dimensional reinforcement system. This bulkhead connects the door beam to the pillar, distributing impact forces across multiple dimensions and reducing the need for increased thickness in single components.
2Strength
If reinforcement measures increase thickness, material strength, or number of components to suppress deformation, then vehicle rigidity is improved, but assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple structural functions into the integrated door beam-pillar assembly, reducing the number of separate components that need to be assembled. The direct connection between door beam and pillar eliminates the need for additional reinforcement components, simplifying the assembly process.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional pillar and door beam design without direct connection is used, then manufacturing is simpler, but impact resistance is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the door beam and pillar into a unified structure with direct connection, improving impact resistance while maintaining manufacturing simplicity. The bulkhead structure is formed as part of the integrated assembly, allowing for efficient production without complex multi-component assembly processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A side structure of a vehicle is capable of withstanding impacts from the front-rear direction and the side direction with a relatively simple structure. The side structure of the vehicle includes: a pillar which extends along a vehicle up-down direction and is formed into a hollow structure; a door panel which is disposed at a door opening of the vehicle; and a door beam which is disposed in the door panel and extends along a vehicle front-rear direction, and is formed into a hollow structure. The pillar overlaps the door beam when viewed from a vehicle width direction. The pillar includes a first bulkhead which is disposed inside the pillar and corresponds to a position where the pillar overlaps the door beam when viewed from the vehicle width direction. The first bulkhead separates a space inside the pillar in the vehicle up-down direction.