Motor Vehicle Understructure Adapters for Torsional Strength
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing motor vehicle understructures with ladder frames face challenges in achieving high load capacity and low weight due to difficulties in producing cross members with precise lengths and uniform gap widths, especially when the side members are not flat, leading to reduced weld strength and increased production complexity.
Innovation Solution
The understructure employs adapters with identical shells connected to side and cross members, allowing for adjustable lengths and complex contour adaptation, forming a strong torsional connection through flanges and a plug connection mechanism, enabling efficient production with fewer parts and accommodating varying production tolerances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If cross members are cut to precise predetermined lengths to ensure uniform gap widths for welding, then welding quality improves, but production complexity and difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
An adapter component is introduced as an intermediary element between the cross member and side members. The adapter includes a receiving portion that accommodates the cross member end and a connection portion that interfaces with the side member. This mediator absorbs dimensional variations and positioning requirements, allowing cross members to be cut from continuous material without precise length control while maintaining uniform effective spacing and welding quality through the adapter's standardized geometry.
2Strength
If cross members laterally protrude over side members to improve connection, then load capacity improves, but production precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system is segmented into three distinct components: the cross member, the adapter, and the side member. The adapter acts as a separate functional element that provides the lateral protrusion and connection interface. This segmentation allows the cross member to be produced from continuous material without precise positioning, while the adapter's geometry ensures proper lateral extension and connection strength to the side members.
3Ease of operation
If adapters with identical shells are used to connect cross members and side members, then assembly ease improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
While the adapter uses identical shells for symmetry in manufacturing, the overall adapter assembly achieves asymmetry through the slot feature and the specific geometric configuration of the receiving and connection portions. The slot provides asymmetric tolerance accommodation for cross member length variations, and the connection portion geometry is optimized for specific loading directions. This allows identical shells to be used (simplifying manufacturing) while the assembled adapter provides the necessary asymmetric functionality for easy assembly and tolerance compensation.
Data Source
AI summary
An understructure for a motor vehicle includes two side members and multiple cross members fastened to the side members in each case via adapters. The adapters each include two identical shells which are each connected at the face end to a cross member and side member and to one another alongside.