A vehicle body structure includes a resin floor part provided with a flange portion bent toward an upper side or a lower side at an end in a vehicle width direction, and a metal side sill part joined to the flange portion of the floor part. The side sill part includes a rim portion, a peak portion, and intermediate portions that link the rim portion to the peak portion. The peak portion and the intermediate portions form a protruding portion projecting from the rim portion toward the floor part. The flange portion of the floor part is joined to the peak portion of the protruding portion.

The present invention relates to a modular way to build a rolling chassis using composite materials without custom forming, and yielding appropriate weight distribution (centre of gravity) and torsional and bending rigidity.

An access panel for a body of a vehicle is provided that includes a dome portion, a flat portion, and an extension portion. The dome portion has a reinforcing element. The extension portion extends from the flat portion. A floor panel structure for a vehicle is also provided that includes a metal sheet and an access panel. The metal sheet includes an aperture. The access panel includes a dome portion, a flat portion, and an extension portion. The access panel is coupled to the metal sheet over the aperture, and the flat portion and the extension portion are configured to transmit a downward force applied to the access panel to the metal sheet.

A programmable texture surface including one or more artificial muscles is provided. Each artificial muscle includes a housing having a first wall opposite a second wall and an electrode region adjacent an expandable fluid region. One or both of the first wall and the second wall include an interior tapered portion within the electrode region. A dielectric fluid is housed within the housing and an electrode pair is housed within the electrode region of the housing. The electrode pair includes a first electrode coupled to the first wall and a second electrode coupled to the second wall, such that at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode is coupled to the interior tapered portion. The electrode pair is actuatable between a non-actuated state and an actuated state such that actuation from the non-actuated state to the actuated state directs the dielectric fluid into the expandable fluid region.

A chassis cell for a motor vehicle defines a passenger compartment for the motor vehicle and comprises at least one shell comprising carbon fibre and at least two first walls facing one another so as to define a cavity between the first walls, characterized in that it further comprises one or more partitions comprising carbon fibre, arranged inside the cavity according to an arrangement, and each extending transversally to the first walls between two first ends respectively connected to the first walls seamlessly.

A process for manufacturing a sandwich structure including two steel skin layers separated by a polymeric layer is provided. The process includes dimensioning the sandwich structure according to a target to be attained by defining the target to be attained by three target values, i.e., tensile strength T.sub.c expressed in kN/mm, bending stiffness B.sub.c expressed in kN/mm, and surface mass M.sub.c expressed in Kg/m.sup.2, defining a tolerance for the attainment of target values, defining the sandwich structure by five variables, i.e., the thickness E.sub.a of the steel skin layers expressed in mm, the polymeric layer thickness E.sub.p expressed in mm, the intrinsic Young's modulus Y.sub.p of the polymeric layer, the intrinsic density d.sub.p of the polymeric layer, and the volume ratio R.sub.p of the polymeric layer expressed as a volume percentage of the polymeric layer of the material, identifying the E.sub.a, E.sub.p, Y.sub.p, d.sub.p, and R.sub.p combinations enabling attainment of the target values having the defined tolerance, and determining, for each variable, an operating range. The process also includes selecting the steel and the polymeric layer for which each variable is within the range defined in the previous step and manufacturing the corresponding sandwich structure.

An assembly for a roof of a motor vehicle having two roof frame elements. The two roof frame elements are arranged in such a way relative to one another that a region of overlap is formed, in which the two roof frame elements overlap one another, a plastic jacket, which covers the region of overlap and seals off the region of overlap, wherein the following are formed along the region of overlap in a manner offset with respect to one another: a joining location, at which the two roof frame elements are connected to one another and which is covered by the plastic jacket to seal off the joining location, an adhesive bonding location, which is formed on an outer side of the plastic jacket, for the application of an adhesive.

This disclosure relates to a motor vehicle, and in particular a vehicle body structure for a motor vehicle, with a reinforcement structure including an additively manufactured bracket. An example motor vehicle has a vehicle body structure including a reinforcement structure. The reinforcement structure includes a tube and a bracket additively manufactured to the tube.

Underbody shield materials that can provide an underbody shield with high impact resistance are described. In some configurations, an underbody shield composition comprises a porous core layer comprising a plurality of reinforcing fibers, a lofting agent and a thermoplastic material. In some instances, the underbody shield composition may also comprise a film such that an underbody shield produced from the composition can withstand at least 50 individual impacts as tested using a SAE J400 protocol.

A vehicle body includes a structural member having an inner surface defining an elongated cavity. The structural member includes an outer panel member joined to an inner panel member. A tension web secured in the cavity separates the outer and inner panel members. A reinforcement member is positioned in the cavity of the structural member. The reinforcement member contacts the transverse web and a gap is provided between the reinforcement member and the inner surface of the structural member. The reinforcement member including a base member having a plurality of bumpers extended in a width direction of the reinforcement member. The plurality of bumpers face one of the inner surface and the tension web. An adhesive secured to the reinforcement member is activatable to expand toward the inner surface to define a joint between the reinforcement member and the structural member and to at least partially fill the gap.