COURSEWORK2

BPILLAR REDESIGN
Submitted by:
Gurushish Singh Grover
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M10MAECOMPUTERAIDEDENGINEERINGBPILLARREDESIGN

Table of Contents

ListofFigures.............................................................................................................................2
ListofTables..............................................................................................................................3
ExecutiveSummary...................................................................................................................4
1.

Introduction.......................................................................................................................5

2.

ProblemStatement...........................................................................................................6

3.

LiteratureReview..............................................................................................................7
3.1.FiniteElementAnalysis(FEA):........................................................................................7
3.2.LoadCaseStudy:.............................................................................................................8
3.3.Meshing..........................................................................................................................9
3.3.1.MeshingSize............................................................................................................9
3.4.EuroNCAP....................................................................................................................10

4.DesignModification.............................................................................................................11
4.1.DesignParameters........................................................................................................11
4.1.1.SecondMomentofArea.......................................................................................11
4.1.2.Material.................................................................................................................12
4.1.3.Weight...................................................................................................................12
4.2.Design...........................................................................................................................12
5.ModelAnalysis.....................................................................................................................13
5.1.Procedure.....................................................................................................................13
5.2.Analysis.........................................................................................................................14
5.3.Discussion.....................................................................................................................14
6.2DCADDrawings.................................................................................................................15
7.ConclusionandRecommendation.......................................................................................19
8.Bibliography.........................................................................................................................20

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List of Figures

Figure1:BPillarStructure(AltairEngineering).......................................................................5
Figure2:InitialAnalysis.............................................................................................................6
Figure3:LoadCase....................................................................................................................8
Figure4:SideCrashTest.........................................................................................................10
Figure5:HatSection(Anoop,2009).......................................................................................11
Figure6:Reinforcement..........................................................................................................12
Figure7:Assembly...................................................................................................................13
Figure8:VonMisesStressandDisplacementonAssembly...................................................14
Figure9:BPillarDraft.............................................................................................................15
Figure10:ReinforcementDraft...............................................................................................16
Figure11:ExplodedDraft........................................................................................................17
Figure12:AssemblyDraft.......................................................................................................18

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List of Tables

Table1:MaterialRestrictions...................................................................................................6
Table2:MeshResults................................................................................................................9

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Executive Summary

ThereportisabouttheprojectforredesignoftheBpillarbyaddingreinforcement.The
reportdealswiththedesignandanalysispartofthepillar.Itdiscussesvarioustoolsusedfor
theanalysislikeVonMisesStresses,displacement,etc.Thereportexplainsthedetailsabout
thecontentsrequiredforproperanalysisofthesystemlikeMeshsize,factorofsafety,etc.
ExamplesofotherprojectssimilartotheBpillararealsodiscussed.Theprocedureofthe
designingandanalysiswithrelevantfiguresareshowninthereport.Theforcesappliedon
theBpillarandtheeffectonitandtheresultsarealsodiscussed.Thedifferentparameters
thataffecttheperformanceandstrengthofthepillararealsocommented.

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1. Introduction

TheBpillaristhestructurelocatedbetweenthefrontandreardoorsofthevehicle.Therole
ofthepillarisnotonlytosupportthestructurebutitplaysvitalroleinsidecrashesandroll
overs,helpinginlessdamagetothepeopleinsideit.StructureofBpillarisshowninfig.1
Intheproject,Bpillarwasprovidedandtheobjectivewastostrengthenthepillarforthe
safetyofthepassengers.Ouraimwastofirstanalysethegivenpillarandnotethestresses
anditsdisplacementactingonitwiththehelpofforcesandafterthatredesignthepillarby
addingreinforcementandthenanalysingitagaintodecreasethestressesandthe
displacements.TheBpillartobedesignedwillhavetosustainsideimpactstaticloadof
140KNinYdirection.

Figure1:BPillarStructure(AltairEngineering)

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2. Problem Statement

ThematerialoftheBpillarwasgivenandallthepropertieslikedensity,yieldstrength,
youngsmodulus,etc.forthematerialwasgiven.Theanalysisofthepillarwasperformed
firsttocheckthestressesandtheinitialdisplacementofthepillarataforceof14KN.

Figure2:InitialAnalysis

BPillar

1.4

CPSteel800/1000

7850

210

800

1000

Reinforcement

2.0

HighAlloySteel

7850

210

1500

1700

Poisons
ratio

Material

Tensile
Strength
(MPa)

Maximu
m
Thickne
ss(mm)

Youngs
Modulus
(GPa)
Yield
Strength
(MPa)

Component

Density
(Kg/m3)

ThefigureaboveshowsthedisplacementandtheVonMisesstressontheBpillar.Thispillar
neededtoberedesignedtodecreasethedisplacementandthestresswhosemaximumlimit
weregiven.Thematerialforthereinforcementwasalsogivenwithitspropertieslike
density,yieldstrength,etc.TablebelowshowsthedescriptionoftheBpillarand
reinforcementsmaterialandmechanicalproperties.

0.3
00
0.3
00

Table1:MaterialRestrictions

Themaximumdisplacementallowedwas40mmandmaximumstress800MPaforthere
designedBPillar.
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3. Literature Review

3.1. Finite Element Analysis (FEA):

FiniteElementAnalysisisanumericalprocedureinwhichallthecomplicationsofthe
problemaremaintainedsameandapproximatesolutionsareobtained.Displacementand
stressareconsideredtobeimportantFieldVariablesofsolidmechanicsinFEA.(Gupta,
2003).
Inacontinuum,FieldVariablesareinfinite.Theseinfinitevariablesarereducedtofinite
numberbydividingregionintoelementsandexpressingtheunknownfieldvariablesas
approximatingfunctions.Theseapproximatingfunctionsarecallednodalpointsornodes.
SotheunknownarethefieldvariablesofthenodesinFEA.
Nextstepistoassembleelementpropertiesforeachelement.Forexample,mathematically
wecanfindtherelationshipbetweenstiffnesscharacteristicsofeachindividualelement.
[k]e{}e={F}e
Where,
[k]e=ElementStiffnessMatrix,
{}e=NodalDisplacementVector,and
{F}e=NodalForceVector
Toassemblestructureproperty,elementpropertiesareused.Afterthisstep,theboundary
conditionsaredefined.(Bhavikatti,2005)

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3.2. Load Case Study:

TheloadsusedinthisprojectareSideImpactstaticloadswhichissimilartothecrashtest
analysisbysafetyregulations.
Theassemblyisfixedat18pointsi.e.9onupperandlowerendseachtoassumethatitis
attachedtothevehicle.Aloadof140KNisappliedonthetopsurfaceofthepillarasshown
infigurebelow.

Figure3:LoadCase

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3.3. Meshing

AsignificantstepoftheFEAmethodismeshgeneration.Meshingistheprocessofdividinga
givenbodyintosmallelements.Meshingcanbecharacterisedon3differenttypes:
1.StructuredMesh
2.UnstructuredMesh
3.HybridMesh
Structuredmeshisidentifiedbyregularconnectivity.Elementshavegeometricalproperties
oforderedgrid.Theseareeasytocomputeandrequirelesstimeandmoreelements
whereasunstructuredcontaintrigulationandquadteesofpointsets.Hybridmeshis
combinationalofstructuredandunstructuredmeshing.Thereisalsoamanualmeshtypes,
knownasfreeandmappedmesh,wherethetypeofmeshismentionedbeforestartingthe
analysis.(O.C.Zienkiewicz,2005).

3.3.1. Meshing Size

TheanalysisoftheinitialBpillarwascarriedoutwithdifferentmeshsizes,andrespective
displacementsandthestresseswerenoted.Andameshsizewasselectedthatwouldbe
appliedagainontheredesignedBPillar.Thetablebelowshowsallthereadingsbetween
meshsizes215.Thehigherthemeshsize,thelesstimeittakestogetresultsoftheanalysis
buttheaccuracyoftheresultdecreasesandviceversa.Sochosemeshsizeof5becauseits
notfineandnottoolargeandtimeforanalysiswillnottaketoomuchtimeascomparedto
meshsize2andtheaccuracywillbegood,ifcomparedwithhighermeshsize.

Mesh size

Displacement
(mm)

Stress (MPa)

15
14
12
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2

47.8
51.1
50.3
47.6
45.8
48.2
50.1
50.4
49.4
50.3
49.6
50.8

8.47*E03
7.19*E03
8.28*E03
8.32*E03
9.35*E03
9.61*E03
1.11*E04
1.09*E04
1.01*E04
1.12*E04
1.25*E04
1.35*E04

Table2:MeshResults

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3.4. Euro NCAP

EuroNCAPistheEuropeannewcarassessmentprogrammewhichorganizescrashtestsand
passesontheresultstotheownerofthevehiclewiththeassessmentofthesafety
performanceofthevehicleforimpactsofthevehicleatrealisticinstanceforces.Thereare
basicallytwoimpactassessmentsthatarecarriedout,1.Frontcrashtestand2.Sidecrash
test.Figureofsidecrashtestisshownbelow.(EuroNCAp)

Figure4:SideCrashTest

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4. Design Modification

AfterapplyingforcesontheinitialBpillaranditsanalysis,itisobservedthatdisplacement
ofthepillarismorethan40mmandthestressdistributionisnotuniform.Insomeareas,
thestressismorethantheyieldstrengthofthepillarmaterial,sofactorofsafetycannotbe
consideredfortheinitialpillar.So,toimprovethis,reinforcementshouldbeaddedtotheB
pillartoreducethedisplacementandtohaveuniformstressdistributionwithmaximum
stressbelow800Mpaonthepillar.

4.1. Design Parameters

4.1.1. Second Moment of Area

Secondmomentofareaisdefinedasgeometricpropertyofaparticularareathatwillreflect
howpointsonthisareaaredispersedonarandomaxis.Itisalsocalledasmomentofinertia
onaplaneareaandareamomentofinertia.
ThecrosssectionoftheBpillarcanbeconsideredashatsection,astheshapeisalmost
similar.Stressdistributionacrosshatsectioncanbeseeninfigure5.

Figure5:HatSection(Anoop,2009)

Thesecondmomentofinertiaforhatsection:
2

Ifwetrytominimizethedeflectionbyincreasingthethicknessofthesection,theweightwill
increase.Sothereinforcementplatewithhatsectionispreferable.

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4.1.2. Material

Thestressesaredependentonthepropertiesofthematerial.Thedimensionalstructureof
theBpillarcannotbechanged,soareinforcementofalightermaterialwithhighyield
strengthisrequiredtosupportthepillar.SothematerialforthereinforcementisHighAlloy
Steelthatisnormallyusedfortheseapplications.

4.1.3. Weight

ThemaximumweightallowedforredesigningoftheBPillaris5kgandtheweightofthe
pillarwithoutreinforcementis2.4kg,sothereisalimitationofweightforthe
reinforcement.Therefore,thereinforcementshouldbedesignedatplaceswherethe
stressesaremaximum,sothestressdistributionwillbeuniformandthestructurewontfail.

4.2. Design

ThereinforcementisdesignedasarectangularmodelwhichwillbeweldedtotheBpillar.
Thisreinforcementwillhelpinreducingthestressdistributiononthecentralsurfacesofthe
Bpillarwherethestressconcentrationswillbehigh.TherewerenochangesmadetotheB
pillar.Figure6showsthereinforcement.

Figure6:Reinforcement

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5. Model Analysis

5.1. Procedure

ThereinforcementisnowassembledwiththeBpillarandnowitisreadyfortheanalysis.
ThisassemblyisnowtransferredtoGenerativeStructuralAnalysis.Materialsspecifiedinthe
projectdefinitionaredefinedtothebpillarandthereinforcement.Theanalysisforthe
resignedpillarissameastheearlieronei.e.triangularmeshwithparabolicelementis
appliedontheelementsoftheassembly.
Propertiesofthematerialsaredefinedtotheassembly.Thethicknessofthereinforcement
isgivenas2mmthatwasthemaximumlimitallowedfordesigningthereinforcement.Line
contactisusedfortheconnectionsoftheassemblyastherewasnopointcontactbetween
thesurfaces.Seamweldingusedtojointhesurfacesofthepillarandreinforcementby
bindingtechnique.Alltherestraintswerefirstappliedontheassemblyasearlierandthen
theforceswereapplied.Figure7showstheassemblyoftheBpillarandthereinforcement.

Figure7:Assembly

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5.2. Analysis

RedesigningtheBpillarwithreinforcementreducedthedisplacementofthepillarbyagreat
value.Thedisplacementofthepillarreducedfrom50mmtoalmost22mm.Thestresseson
theassemblyhavealsoreducedalotbutatthecurvesandtheendofthebpillarthereare
stillsomehighstressareas.
Figure8showstheVonMisesStressanddisplacementoftheredesignedBpillar.

Figure8:VonMisesStressandDisplacementonAssembly

5.3. Discussion

Lighterandstrongermateriallikecarbonsteelcanbeusedtoreinforce,sothatwilldecrease
theweightwhileincreasingthestrengthofpillar.Andthereinforcementcanalsobegivento
theedgesofthepillar,sotherewillbenohighstresspointsinthestructure.

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7. Conclusion and Recommendation

Alltheanalysishasbeendoneandtheresultswererecorded.Buttheproblemwiththe
stressdistributionstillnotsolvedneartheendsofthepillars.Learntsomenewtechniques
fortheanalysisinCATIA.
Istillrecommendchangingthematerial,whichwillaffecttheanalysisandreducethe
stressesandthedisplacement.Andtherewillbelessornopointsoffailureordistributionof
stresseswillbeeven.

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8. Bibliography

AltairEngineering.(n.d.).Retrieved2009,from
http://altairatc.com/europe/Presentations_2009/Session_15/VOLKSWAGEN_
091104_VWAG_EHTC2009.pdf
Anoop,C.(2009).FundamentalsandPreliminarysizingofsectionsandjoints.Delhi.
Bhavikatti,S.S.(2005).FiniteElementAnalysis.NewAgeInternational.
EuroNCAp.(n.d.).Retrievedfromhttp://www.euroncap.com/about.aspx
Gupta,K.(2003).FiniteElementMultidisciplinaryAnalysis.AIAA.
O.C.Zienkiewicz,R.T.(2005).TheFiniteElementmethod:ItsBasisand
Fundamentals.ElsevierButterworthHeinemann.

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