Hood design-Week 2
HOOD :-
A car hood, also referred to as a “bonnet” in some countries, is the hinged cover that rests over the engine bay of a front-engine vehicle. The car hood protects the engine and connected parts from the elements while providing easy access for repairs and maintenance.
Hoods are usually made from the same material as the rest of the body. This can be steel, aluminum, fiberglass, or carbon fiber. However, some aftermarket companies produce fiberglass or carbon fiber steel hood replacements to make the vehicle lighter.
The hood release system is common on most vehicles and typically consists of an inner hood latch/lock handle, a hood release cable, and a hood lock assembly. The hood lock handle is usually located under the steering wheel, next to the driver’s seat, or in the door frame.
STRUCTURE OF HOOD PANEL :-
A car hood panel is one of the most important components of the BIW (body in white), it is considered as the closure sheet-metal component. A hood panel consists of two panels that are hemmed together to form the automotive hood assembly.
The inner panel of the hood is not visible to the customer but this is the engineering feature of the outer panel. The outer panel has the aesthetic look to it but on its own is very weak and not capable of handling force during impact.
Hinge assembly:
It is an important part of our hood because by use of this part only we are able to open and closed our hood whenever required with ease. This part should be strong enough to take the load of the hood and also the forces which act upon the hood in case of crash.
Striker:
This part is used for providing locking to the hood it consists of a latch-type mechanism and it is located on the inner panel of the hood to decide the position of our striker, the trajectory method is used with the help of this method we can easily locate our striker. This part holds our hood in closed condition unless it is being open by pulling the latch lever to open our hood.
Mastic Data:
We know that the hood comprises two main parts: a hood inner panel and a hood outer panel. The hood inner panel is enclosed below the outer panel and thereby provides rigidity to the hood. When these parts are assembled to form a hood a small gap remains between these two parts as they are both metal parts this may lead to noise and vibrations when the vehicle is in running condition which is undesirable to avoid this mastic sealant is filled between this small gap.
Mastic sealant is a paste-like material that is applied on a surface and is hardened by heating.
HEMMING:-
Hemming is a technology used by the automotive industry to join inner and outer closure panels together (hoods, doors, tailgates, etc.). It is the process of bending/folding the flange of the outer panel over the inner one.
Hemming is a forming operation in which the edges of the sheet are folded or folded over another part in order to achieve a tight fit. Normally hemming operations are used to connect parts together, to improve the appearance of a part and to reinforce part edges.
In car part production, hemming is used in assembly as a secondary operation after deep drawing, trimming and flanging operations to join two sheet metal parts (outer and inner) together. Typical parts for this type of assembly are hoods, doors, trunk lids and fenders.
The accuracy of the hemming operation is very important since it affects the appearance of the surface and surface quality. Material deformations, which occur during the hemming process, can lead to dimensional variations and other defects in parts. Typical hemming defects are splits or wrinkles in the flange, material overlaps in the corner areas or material roll-in. This is why it is important to use simulation tools in order to, on the one hand, better understand the hemming process and, on the other hand, significantly reduce the number of “trial and error” loops during tryout and production.
Deep Drawing
Deep drawing is one of the most widely used processes in sheet metal forming. Apart from its use in many other sectors, it is applied in the automotive industry for the manufacturing of car body parts.
Process definition:
The deep drawing process is a forming process which occurs under a combination of tensile and compressive conditions. A flat sheet metal blank is formed into a hollow body open on one side or a hollow body is formed into a hollow body with a smaller cross-section. [DIN 8584]
Deep drawing processes are divided into three types:
- Deep drawing with tools
- Deep drawing with active means
- Deep drawing with active energy
In the automotive industry, deep drawing is usually carried out using rigid tools.
Illustration of the deep drawing process
The figure illustrates the deep drawing process. The rigid tools consist of a punch, die and binder. In deep drawing, the plate holder closes after the metal sheet blank has been inserted.
Next the sheet is clamped between the die and the binder. This process slows down the flow of the sheet while it is being drawn and thereby prevents wrinkles from forming under the binder. The punch stretches the sheet over the die radius and forms it in the die. The amount of punch force necessary for forming is thereby continually increased up to the lower dead center of the punch.
Whereas in pure deep drawing there is no reduction of sheet metal thickness, forming is achieved in stretch forming purely as a result of a decrease in sheet metal thickness. Stretch forming is extensively used for the forming of only slightly curved parts with low depth of draw (e.g. roofs, doors).
When drawing complex car body parts in practice, there is usually a combination of stretch and deep drawing involved. It is necessary that the sheet metal is stretched as well as possible without reaching the material’s limits (e.g. splits, wrinkles).
There are approximately 300 to 400 sheet metal parts which fit together to form the body of a car. In order to manufacture high quality sheet metal parts optimally for their particular use, specialized software simulates the complete deep drawing process.
