Apparatus and method for designing deck sill and rear post
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorsChristopher M. HIGGINS, James J. Chung
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Abstract
An apparatus and a method for designing a reinforcement structure. The reinforcement structure includes a deck sill with a connecting end, having substantially uniform area moment of inertia throughout a length of the deck sill. Also, the reinforcement structure includes a rear post with a connecting end and a free end, having a varying area moment of inertia, and where the rear post is attached to the deck sill in a substantially perpendicular manner by attaching the connecting end of the deck sill to the connecting end of the rear post forming the reinforcement structure that limits deflection of the free end of the rear post to a target value upon application of a cantilever force at the free end of the rear post.
Claims20
A method for designing a reinforcement structure including a deck sill and a rear post, the method comprising:
- inputting, using processing circuitry, structural limitations related to the deck sill and the rear post;
- selecting, using the processing circuitry, a first component with a uniform area moment of inertia and a second component with a varying area moment of inertia;
- applying, using the processing circuitry, the structural limitations to the first component and the second component;
- modifying, using the processing circuitry, the first component to maintain the uniform area moment of inertia and the second component to maintain the varying area moment of inertia;
- assembling, using the processing circuitry, the reinforcement structure by connecting the first component to the second component in a substantially perpendicular manner;
- determining, using the processing circuitry, a first deflection at a connecting end of the first component, a second deflection at a free end of the second component, and computing a total deflection at the free end of the second component by aggregating the first deflection and the second deflection;
- optimizing, using the processing circuitry, a performance parameter of the reinforcement structure to obtain an optimized reinforcement structure;
- and
- manufacturing and assembling the optimized reinforcement structure.
A reinforcement structure comprising:
- a deck sill with a connecting end, having substantially uniform area moment of inertia throughout a length of the deck sill;
- and
- a rear post with a connecting end and a free end, having a varying area moment of inertia, wherein the rear post is attached to the deck sill in a substantially perpendicular manner by attaching the connecting end of the deck sill to the connecting end of the rear post forming the reinforcement structure that limits deflection of the free end of the rear post to a target value upon application of a cantilever force at the free end of the rear post.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.