Hood design-Week 2

Introduction:-

Hood is main component of a car at the front portion. It is used to decorate the car & add luxurious look. The shape of the bonnet is made aerodynamic in order to minimize the air effect.

Hood Introduction :

The hood (North American English) or bonnet (Commonwealth English) is the hinged cover over the engine of motor vehicles. Hoods can open to allow access to the engine compartment or trunk (boot in Commonwealth English) on rear-engine and some mid-engine vehicles) for maintenance and repair.

A car hood also referred to as a bonnet in some other countries is the hinged cover that rests over the engine of a front-engine vehicle. Its purpose is to provide access to the engine for repair and maintenance. Car hoods are typically constructed from steel and sometimes from aluminum.

In UK terminology, a hood refers to a fabric covering over the passenger compartment of the car (known as the “roof” or “top” in the US). For many motor vehicles built in the 1930s and 1940s, the resemblance to an actual hood is clear when it is opened and viewed from the front; in modern vehicles, it still serves the same purpose, but no longer resembles head covering.

On front-engined cars, the hood may be hinged at either the front or the rear edge, or in earlier models (e.g. the Ford Model T) it may be split into two sections, one on each side, each hinged along the centerline. A further variant combines the bonnet and wheel arches into one section and allows the entire front bodywork to tilt forwards around a pivot near the front of the vehicle.

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.

HOOD DESIGN :

• There lot more things before the hood gets in to designing hands that to be considered.
• The height of the hood is designed based on the country standards as the height of a average person changes from place to place.
• The material consideration is also required that should be cost effective to manufacture.
• The Hood should be designed with a light weight for the pedestrain saftey as the person hit to hood there should be minimal harm to the person.

Hood design consideration:-

The hood of a car is considered as the frontal BIW enclosure component. Bonnets are designed to reduce air resistance as the air flows around the car. Apart from this, bonnets are also designed to meet several other requirements. They serve a great deal of purpose in protecting the passengers inside the car & the pedestrians in the event of an accident. It also acts as the cover for the engine.

• The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European car safety performance assessment program which has developed test specifications & rating systems for assessing pedestrian injuries during impacts with the front of vehicles such test include a series of tests using impacts designed to bio-mimic a collision at speed of 40 km/h.
• They describe a situation in which a pedestrian is situated laterally & a car first hits one of his legs. Test are conducted on the leg, upper leg & most importantly the head, as head trauma is most commonly responsible for casualties.
• So to avoid severe injuries to the head, the high impact area for adults & children are subjected to less thickness. Also no reinforcement should be provided in that area as during head collision, the hood will absrob the head impact energy leading to collapse of the hood & thus protecting severe head injury.
• Another important criteria for the hood design is the protection of the occupants inside the car during front collision. The design of the hood should be in a such a way that the during the collision, the force should travel in the upward direction through the embosses & directed towards the body of car. Thus protecting the occupants inside.

Following parts are using in hood assembly for this report,

1. Hood outer panel
2. Hood inner panel
3. Hinge assembly
4. Striker assembly

Inner Panel-

• In the inner panel only we can research & implement the safety of pedestrians & as well as the driver. In this panel only we can attach the reinforcement, embossed, mastic points etc.
• It is an object of the present invention to provide a hood inner panel capable of reduction of a reaction force of the hood inner panel even if a level of deformation of a hood of a vehicle increases, & ensuring a sufficient energy absorption capacity.

Outer Panel-

We can also call it as cover of inner panel. It is the part, which gives luxurious look to the hood or bonnet. Outer & inner panel can not join by any welding process like spot welding or rivet, which spoil the outer look of a car. The outer panel is generally extracted model from the prototype design.

Hinge Assembly-

Hinge is a component that fixes the hood to the fenders of the car. The latch must be fixed perpendicular to the hinge axis so that the hood opens or closes properly.

Striker Assembly-

Latch & striker is used for locking the hood with the car. It is usually placed on the space provided on the inner panel.

Hood thickness-

Outer panel thickness= 0.75 mm

Inner panel thickness= 0.75 mm

Reinforcement thickness= 1.5 mm

PROCESS INVOLVED

The process involved in designing hood as a sheet metal operations is

• Blanking
• Hemming
• Punch cutting or piercing
• Deep drawing
• Embossing

Hemming-

• Hemming is a sheet metal forming process in which sheets are joined by bending it usually to 180 degree. Automotive body panels & parts such as deck-lids, trunk-lids, doors, hoods & tailgates are formed by hemming processes.
• Roll hemming is carried out incrementally with a hemming roller. An industrial robot guides the hemming roller & forms the flange. Roll hemming operation can also be divided into several pre-hemming & final hemming process steps.
• Coventional die hemming is suitable for mass production. In die hemming, the flange is folded over the entire length with a hemming tool. Normally the actual hemming is a result of a forming operation in which the flange is formed with a hemming tool after the drawing & trimming operations have been completed.
• While doing the hemming process a relief angle is formed as a product of hemming when attaining at the corner of the sheet.

Deep Drawing-

• Deep drawing is a manufacturing process that is used extensively in the forming of sheet metal into a cup or box-like structures. Pots & pans for cooking, containers, sinks, automobile parts, such as panel & gas tanks, are among a few of the items manufactured by sheet metal deep drawing.
• A deep drawing of sheet metal is performed with a punch and die. The punch is the desired shape of the base of the part, once drawn. The die cavity matches the punch and is a little wider to allow for its passage, as well as clearance. For many calculations, the sheet metal thickness is assumed to remain constant. There are changes in thickness in certain areas, due to force involved.

Embossing-

• The sheet metal embossing operation is commonly accomplished with a combination of heat & pressure on the sheet metal, depending on what type of embossing is required.
• A sheet metal is drawn through the male & female roller dies, producing a pattern or design on the sheet metal. Depending on the roller dies used, different patterns can be produced on the sheet metal.

Latch trajectory-

While opening or closing the hood, the latch must be perfectly aligned to the fixing or striker point. For that, the latches trajectory must be perpendicular to the hinge axis.

Hood Assembly- Output

CONCLUSION

We have designed a hood that falls under the rules & regulations of the manufacturer's standards