An automotive vehicle frame reinforcement system has a skeleton member designed to be secured to a vehicle frame, such as a roof or pillar section. An expandable material, such as an epoxy-based reinforcing foam, is disposed on the skeleton member. Once the system is attached to the frame, the foam expands and cures during an automobile assembly operation, bonding the reinforcement system to the frame. As a result, the reinforcement system provides enhanced load distribution over the vehicle frame without adding excessive weight.

Structural reinforcement system for automotive vehicles

Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) is a variation of linear Friction Stir Welding (FSW), which was invented to compete with resistance spot welding (RSW) and riveting of lightweight alloys in the au...

Advances in friction stir spot welding

Friction stir weld assisted diffusion bonding of 5754 aluminum alloy to coated high strength steels

Influence of alloy elements on microstructure and mechanical property of aluminum–steel lap joint made by gas metal arc welding

Friction Stir Spot Welding (FSSW) - A Literature Review

An automobile bodyshell frame structure includes a generally elongated first panel member, and a generally elongated second panel member having opposite side edge portions connected to the first panel member to define a hollow between the first and second panel members. A filler is disposed within a portion of a cross-section of the hollow between the first and second panel members. This filler is provided on an inner surface of one of the first and second panel members and has an average compressive strength equal to or greater than 4 Pa and/or a maximum bending strength equal to or greater than 10 MPa.

Automobile bodyshell frame structure

Spot Friction Welding of Aluminum to Steel

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lighten a car body and effectively improve collision safety by reducing the amount to be used of a filler as much as possible, in a center pillar filled with the filler. SOLUTION: A filler 11 is filled only between an outer panel 12 and a reinforcement 14. Average compressive strength of the filler 11 is set to 4 MPa or more (preferably, 5 MPa or more) and maximum bending strength is set to 10 MPa or more (preferably, 60 MPa or more).

Frame structure for car body

Spot friction welding (SFW) is a cost-effective spot joining technology for aluminum sheets, capable of delivering better quality compared with resistance spot welding (RSW). In this study, this technology is applied to the joining of steel and aluminum together. The fusion welding between steel and aluminum is known to be difficult for sufficient strength due to the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds. SFW is a solid state, low temperature joining process using friction heat, so that it's possible to prevent the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds in the joints between steel and aluminum. Tensile shear test was conducted and the joint state was investigated by optical microscope and EPMA. Any remaining coating at the joint interface not removed by the plastic flow will prevent a good contact of the fresh surfaces of aluminum and steel. As a consequence, the joint strength decreases due to the difficulty of removing galvanized coatings with high solidus temperature. In addition, investigation result of steel SFW is also introduced.

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Development of Spot Friction Welding

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely hold a filler in a non-foamed state and add not only a filler holding function but also a function for improving quality and performance to a part for holding the filler, in a center pillar filled with the filler. SOLUTION: On a reinforcement 14 as a closed section member forming a foam filling space for a filler 11, a plurality of beads 14b, 14b,... are roughly formed along the frame longitudinal direction. In the foam filling space including the inside of each of the beads 14b, the filler 11 is foamed and filled.

Motoyasu Asakawa

Papers

Automobile bodyshell frame structure

Spot Friction Welding of Aluminum to Steel

Frame structure for car body

Development of Spot Friction Welding

Frame structure for car body and forming method therefor