Design of a Vehicle Rocker Structure

Ford

Mentors:  Adrian Lew (Stanford), Ari Caliskan (Ford)

Goal:

Design a vehicle rocker structure to absorb side pole impact energy to protect a battery pack while minimizing mass and maximizing stiffness.

Problem:

One of the many design challenges of battery electric vehicles is to maximize the range of the vehicle. The most obvious way to increase range is to install as many battery cells as possible within a given package space while minimizing the overall mass of the vehicle. However, care must be taken to design appropriate structure in and around the battery modules to provide adequate stiffness and protect them from frontal and side impacts. Of the two impact scenarios, side pole impact is the most challenging due to the limited space available to absorb a large amount of kinetic energy. In this study, the team is tasked with designing an aluminum extruded rocker profile that absorbs impact energy while minimizing weight and maximizing stiffness.