Challenge

Roof Design

ROOF DESIGN :

OBJECTIVE :

  • The objective of this project is to design car roof with  essential flanges and reinforcements  like ditch area , front roof rail , bow roofs, central roof rail and rear roof rail for the the given styling surface
  • Perform a curvature study on the roof and perform the calculations for the heat distortion and snow load criteria to determine whether the bow roofs are at the correct  positions.
  • Finding moment of inertia and  section modulus for Bow roofs , central roof rail . front roof rail and rear roof rail .
  • Perform the draft analysis for each reinforcements

SOFTWARE USED :

CATIA V5

INTRODUCTION :

Design of any product starts from an requirement . The design engineer sketches the product based on the the requirement . Then the 2D sketch  with the proper dimensions is converted into the 3D model using the advanced CAD software's . The another important thing in the design is that , every product   that is designed should be able to manufactured .  so the role of the design engineer is to design the product that can be easily  manufactured and with less cost effective . This is the place where the Design for manufacturing  [DFM] and Design of assembly [DFA] takes a role while developing any product . The process of development of  design carries on until the design satisfies  the customer needs .Here in this project the product that we are going to develop is a car roof

CAR ROOF :

An automobile roof or car top is the portion of an automobile that sits above the passenger compartment, protecting the vehicle occupants from sun, wind, rain, and other external elements. Roof is the structure above the wind shield glass having the reinforcements to provide the strength to the overall structure and to with stand the over head forces like snow

WHY REINFORCEMENTS :

If the roof is flat it is very weak and cannot able to with stand the forces like snow , so in order to increase the strength of the roof these reinforcements like front roof rail, central roof rail, rear roof rail and the bow roofs are introduced and joined to the flat surface of the roof with the different joining process

Different types of reinforcements that the car has are :

  • Front roof rail
  • Bow roofs
  • Central roof rail and
  • Rear roof rail

FRONT ROOF RAIL :

Front  roof rail is the one which joins the wind shield glass , body side outer and the inner panel  also. Here the front roof rail is designed based up on the master saection given  

REAR ROOF RAIL :

Rear roof rail is the one which joins the back door and the body side outer

CENTRAL ROOF RAIL : 

central roof rail helps in providing effectively support to the flat area of the roof as it is more susceptible to failure under the action of load . generally central roof rail is placed at the center of the roof which is connected to the B-pillar support structure . This central roof rail helps in adding the strength to the roof during the rool- over test. The thickness of the central roof rail is 0.75 mm .

BOW ROOFS :

The bow roofs are give to improve the torsional stiffness and load bearing capacity of the roof structure . The number of bow roof present is depends on the overall size of the roof . Presently in this project two bow roofs are added.

DRAFT ANALYSIS :  

The Draft Analysis command enables you to detect if the part you drafted will be easily removed. This type of analysis is performed based on color ranges identifying zones on the analyzed element where the deviation from the draft direction at any point, corresponds to specified values.

Minimum draft angle of 70 is considered for analysis . green colour infer on the parts that all face along the tooling direction has positive draft angle greater than 70 and passed in analysis

JOINING PROCESS :

Mastics are introduced between the roof outer panel and the reinforcements for joining .  where ever the mastic are introduced there is remarkable improve of the strength

Spot welding is also introduced to join the reinforcements and the outer panel

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR A ROOF :

  • Visibility criteria
  • Head clearance
  • Curvature study
  • Heat distortion and snow load criteria
  • Draft analysis

ROOF CRUSH TEST :

Roof crush test is the design given by the IIHS ( insurance institute of highway safety ) . After analyzing the many accidents IIHS has then fixed some regulations , that how to perform the  crush test .

IIHS gives the rating based up on this test . For this they consider two points while giving the rating

  • How fast the car can reforms to its original shape after the roll over and
  • How deep is the protrusion after the roll over

GOAL OF ROOF CRUSH TEST :

To minimize the protrusion into the occupant compartment , so that the seat belts and air bags can do there job in protecting the occupant

CONDITIONS TO FOLLOW FOR ROOF CRUSH TEST :

There are two conditions that should be followed for the roof crush test , they are

INITIAL CONDITION :

  • Close and lock all the doors
  • Close all the windows

SECOND CONDITION :

Fix the body sill or chassis frame on a hard lever surface horizontally

METHOD OF APPLYING THE FORCE :

The load is applied in such a way that 50 is tilted from the front end to the rear end and the load will be in 1800 mm in length and 750 mm in width . The load is applied at the position of 250  from the flatness of the roof . The load is applied on the roof for almost 120 sec and the crush speed at which the load applied is 13 mm/sec or less than that

 

Bow – roof prediction Formula 

W = [1.73 x 10^(-3) x L] + [1.85 x 10^(-8)  x (R^2)/t] + [ 1.10x10^(-3) x l] - 2.68            

Where

L = Roof Length in X-Direction[mm](Roof dimension in 0-Y)

R = Roof curvature

      R = 2(Rx*Ry)/(Rx+Ry)

Rx = X curvature

Ry = Y curvature

t  = Roof plate thickness [mm]

l = Bow Roof Span [mm]

 Judgement Condition : OK< 2.7> 3.1

 

APPLY THE VALUES IN THE FORMULA :

In order to find the heat distortion apply all the necessary values from the roof to the give formula

 From the above table,, we conclude that all the values are W< 2.7 and also W> 3.1. So that all bow roof areas are placed in the right place.

SNOW LOAD CRITERIA :

This test is done to know how is the roof behaving when there is a snow over . normally  due to the snow weight the dent will happen. But the  roof  should be designed in such a way that when the snow is removal the roof should go it its original position . This is the basic requirements for snow load criteria .

Qr =  [Iy x t2] / [α x s x [(Rx + Ry)/2]2 x 10-8]

Where

α = My x Lx2 x 10-12 , My = Y(Ly-Y)

Judgement condition = Qr ≥ 3.1

                250 ≤ s ≤ 380

 t = Roof plate thickness [mm]

Ly = Distance between the front and rear roof Rails on the Vehicle along with 0Y[mm]

        Length of Roof panel with the center point between Roof rail Front /Rear as the reference point of the front and the rear.

Lx = Distance between the Left and Right end of the roof on the Roof BOW [mm]

        Width of the roof panel exposed on the surface.

Y = Distance front Front Roof Rail to Roof BOW[mm]

s = Distance for which Roof BOW bears divided load [mm]

        s = L1/2 + L2/2

Iy = Geometrical moment of inertia of Roof BOW (Y cross-section )[mm4]

Rx = Lateral direction curvature radius of roof panel Y cross-section on Roof BOW [mm]

        Roof panel curvature Radius of the Length Lx in Front view 

Ry = Longitudinal Direction curvature radius of the Roof panel X cross-section on Roof BOW [mm]

APPLY THE VALUES IN THE FORMULA :

In order to find the snow load criteria  apply all the necessary values from the roof to the give formula

f the roof structure passes to the snow load condition.  

          Qr   > 3.1

So, we did the curvature study on the roof. Heat distortion and snow load condition, my roof passes the two criteria, so the position of bow roofs and center reinforcement roofs are placed in the right area.

 CONCLUSION:

Hence the roof, front roof rail, bow roof rail, central roof rail, and rear roof rail are designed by following the master sections, and the moment of inertia, section modulus, and draft analysis is carried out to check the feasibility of manufacturing.

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