Method for evaluating an adhesive for a vehicular joint

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11281818-B2
Application number	US-201916288486-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2019
Priority date	Feb 28, 2019
Publication date	Mar 22, 2022
Grant date	Mar 22, 2022

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed toward a method that includes simulating, by an adhesive analytic model, transformation of at least one vehicular joint joined by a selected adhesive based on one or more system variables, and outputting, by the adhesive analytic model, an adhesive analysis identifying deformation for the selected adhesive along the at least one vehicular joint based on the simulated transformation and a deformation rating scale.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
simulating, by an adhesive analytic model, transformation of at least one vehicular joint joined by a selected adhesive to determine a deformation amount based on one or more system variables, wherein the adhesive analytic model stores information related to a plurality of available adhesives, the selected adhesive is selected from among the plurality of available adhesives, wherein the system variables relate to a vehicular structure, an adhesive property, a manufacturing condition, or a combination thereof; and
outputting, by the adhesive analytic model, an adhesive analysis identifying deformation for the selected adhesive along the at least one vehicular joint based on the simulated transformation and a deformation rating scale, wherein:
the deformation rating scale associates a deformation amount with a deformation score, and
the deformation rating scale associates a numerical value to different levels of deformation, the levels of deformation are based on amount of deformation perceptible at varying sight angles, lighting conditions, or a combination thereof.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
preparing a plurality of controlled plaques having different levels of deformation;
defining the deformation rating scale based on the controlled plaques and a deformation measurement standard; and
generating the adhesive analytic model to simulate the transformation of a given joint and to assign the deformation score to the selected adhesive based on the transformation and the deformation rating scale.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the levels of deformation provided in the plurality of controlled plaques replicate deformations associated with the deformation measurement standard.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the defining the deformation rating scale further comprises associating the deformation score to a given controlled plaque based on the level of deformation and a panel type, wherein the panel type indicates whether the level of deformation is for a flat surface of a curved surface.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein, for the system variables,
the vehicular structure includes, for a vehicle, one or more part materials, one or more part gauges, a vehicle geometry, a part stiffness, a location along the vehicle, a bond-gap, or combination thereof,
the adhesive property includes, for a given adhesive, a stiffness characteristic, a curing property, an expansion rate, a volume, or a combination thereof, and
the manufacturing condition includes a build tolerance, an oven profile, a hydrostatic pressure, a deckling load, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining the deformation amount of the joint based on the simulated transformation of the joint; and
assigning a deformation score to the selected adhesive based on the deformation amount and the deformation rating scale.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outputted adhesive analysis includes an adhesive report that identifies at least one selected adhesive from among the plurality of adhesives and provides a deformation score for the at least one selected adhesive.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outputted adhesive analysis includes a stress analysis model that depicts stresses along the at least one vehicular joint for the selected adhesive.

9. A method comprising:
preparing a plurality of controlled plaques having different levels of deformation, wherein the levels of deformation are based on amount of deformation perceptible at varying sight angles, lighting conditions, or a combination thereof;
defining a deformation rating scale based on the controlled plaques and a deformation measurement standard, wherein the deformation rating scale associates a deformation of a given controlled plaque with a deformation score, wherein the deformation score is a numerical value;
simulating, by an adhesive analytic model, transformation of at least one vehicular joint joined by a selected adhesive based on one or more system variables;
determining, by the adhesive analytic model, a deformation amount of the at least one vehicular joint based on the simulated transformation; and
outputting, by the adhesive analytic model, an adhesive analysis for the selected adhesive based on the deformation amount and the deformation rating scale.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the levels of deformation provided in the plurality of controlled plaques replicate deformations associated with the deformation measurement standard.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the system variables relate to a vehicular structure, an adhesive property, a manufacturing condition, or a combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein, for the system variables,
the vehicular structure includes, for a vehicle, one or more part materials, one or more part gauges, a vehicle geometry, a part stiffness, a location along the vehicle, a bond-gap, or combination thereof,
the adhesive property includes, for a given adhesive, a stiffness characteristic, a curing property, an expansion rate, a volume, or a combination thereof, and
the manufacturing condition includes a build tolerance, an oven profile, a hydrostatic pressure, a deckling load, or a combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the selected adhesive is selected from among a plurality of adhesives, and the outputted adhesive analysis includes an adhesive report that identifies at least one selected adhesive from among the plurality of adhesives and provides a deformation score for the at least one selected adhesive.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the outputted adhesive analysis includes a stress analysis model that depicts stresses along the at least one vehicular joint for the selected adhesive.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the defining the deformation rating scale further comprises associating the deformation score to a given controlled plaque based on the level of deformation and a panel type, wherein the panel type indicates whether the level of deformation is for a flat surface or a curved surface.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the deformation measurement standard includes a laser scanning measurement, a visual inspection measurement, or both the laser scanning measurement and the visual inspection measurement.

17. A method comprising:
preparing a plurality of controlled plaques having different levels of deformation, wherein the levels of deformation are based on amount of deformation perceptible at varying sight angles, lighting conditions, or a combination thereof;
defining a deformation rating scale based on the controlled plaques and a deformation measurement standard, wherein the deformation rating scale associates a deformation of a given controlled plaque with a deformation score, wherein the deformation score is a numerical value; and
generating an adhesive analytic model to simulate transformation of at least one vehicular joint joined by a selected adhesive based on one or more system variables and to determine a deformation amount of the at least one vehicular joint based on the transformation and the deformation rating scale, wherein the system variables relate to a vehicular structure, an adhesive property, a manufacturing condition, or a combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein for the system variables:
the vehicular structure includes, for a vehicle, one or more part materials, one or more part gauges, a vehicle geometry, a part stiffness, a location along the vehicle, a bond-gap, or c

Assignees

• Ford Motor Co

Inventors

• Donabedian Edgar Edward
• Sterbenz Scott Christopher
• Norton Thomas
• Wagner Darrin Neil
• Eddings Forrest W

Classifications

• G06F30/20

  Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) · CPC title

• G06F30/15 Primary

  Vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design · CPC title

• G06F2111/10

  Numerical modelling · CPC title