Suspension system providing desired wheel kinematics at prescribed conditions

A system comprising:

• a vehicle body structure;
• a wheel assembly;
• and
• a suspension system linking the wheel assembly to the vehicle body structure, including a link coupled with the vehicle body structure by a first joint and coupled with the wheel assembly through a second joint, the first joint including a bracket with a flange that has an opening, an edge, and at least one undercut defined in the edge of the flange, the at least one undercut disposed laterally outward from the opening,
• wherein the first joint is configured to release, by a tear of the bracket laterally outward from the opening to the at least one undercut, the link from the vehicle body structure under loads on the wheel assembly above a select threshold, the select threshold including a threshold force and a threshold angle of the threshold force at the second joint, to, when the release occurs, impart select kinematics to the wheel assembly including directing the wheel assembly through a trajectory selected to minimize deformation of the vehicle body structure,
• wherein the first joint is configured to prevent the release without the tear when the loads are below the select threshold.

A system comprising:

• a vehicle body structure including an engine cradle, a rocker and a bracket;
• a wheel assembly linked with the vehicle body structure at the engine cradle;
• and
• a suspension system linking the wheel assembly to the vehicle body structure, including a link coupled with the engine cradle at the bracket by a first joint and coupled with the wheel assembly through a second joint,
• wherein the bracket includes a flange with an opening and an outer edge spaced from the opening, the opening defined about a center,
• wherein the bracket includes a first undercut defined in the outer edge, the first undercut disposed laterally outward from the opening and disposed offset a first distance above the center of the opening in a vertical direction, and a second undercut defined in the outer edge, the second undercut disposed laterally outward from the opening and disposed offset a second distance below the center of the opening in the vertical direction,
• wherein the first joint is configured to release, by tearing of the flange, the link from the engine cradle under loads on the wheel assembly above a threshold force and above a threshold angle of the threshold force at the second joint, to impart select kinematics to the wheel assembly including directing the wheel assembly through a trajectory toward the rocker to minimize deformation of the vehicle body structure.