Controlling Loading Dynamics in Chassis Bolted Connections Through Friction Increase

With the trend towards electrification, vehicle chassis designs are evolving. The number of vehicle variants (ICE, hybrid, BEV) for a like model are increasing. These vehicle variants can present challenges of how to handle the differences in weight and loading dynamics while utilizing the same or similar carry-over chassis designs. In some cases, this problem can be solved by increasing the shear capacity of the critical bolted connection.

This paper presents FEM results on the effects of 3M™ Friction Shims, a friction enhancement solution, on shear capacity of a weight bearing connection in a vehicle chassis. The average increases in force withstood by the connection before slippage were as follows: 44% from increasing bolt size; 15% from moving to a higher material class; 395% from adding 3M™ Friction Shims. This demonstrates that 3M™ Friction Shims can significantly increase the shear capacity of a bolted connection without requiring significant design changes.

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