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 reinforcement member is positioned in the cavity wherein a gap is provided between the reinforcement member and the inner surface of the structural member. The reinforcement member includes an outer section, an inner section and a tension web interposed between and contacting the outer section and inner section. The outer section faces the outer panel member and the inner section faces the inner panel member. The tension web is secured to the outer panel member and inner panel member. An adhesive secured to the reinforcement member is activatable to expand toward the inner surface of the structural member to define a joint between the reinforcement member and the structural member and to at least partially fill the gap.

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.

A profile includes two end wing portions with substantially a transversal direction (Y), two lateral wall portions having substantially a height direction-(Z), a frontal wall portion having substantially a transversal direction (Y), two curved transition zones (R1, R2) disposed between the lateral wall portions and the frontal wall portion, and two curved transition zones (R3, R4) disposed between the end wing portions and the lateral wall portions. A specific portion of each curved transition zones (R1, R2) between the lateral wall portions and the frontal wall portion has a tensile strength lower than the tensile strength of the rest of the cross-section. This configuration also relates to a longitudinal beam, a cross-member, a pillar, a B-Pillar or a C-Pillar having the profile, and to a vehicle provided thereof.

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 low floor electric bus is provided. The bus includes a frame extending longitudinally from a front end to a rear end, the frame having two sidepieces and a plurality of crossmembers extending between and coupled to the sidepieces, wherein the frame has a central section positioned at a lower height relative to the front and/or rear sections. The bus further includes a battery pack mounted to the central portion of the frame; a powertrain having an electric motor and a driveshaft, wherein the electric motor is mounted to the rear section of the frame behind a rear axle coupled to the frame and the driveshaft extends from the electric motor to the rear axle; and a cradle coupled to the front section of the frame. A mixed-material cabin is also provided. The cabin includes a passenger cabin with a floor, sidewalls, and ceiling having steel, ceramic, and composite components.

This composite structure is characterized in that: an internally inserted component, which is molded from a resin material having a tensile elongation of 10% or more, is placed inside a metal member having a hollow closed cross-section such that an external load can be received by both the internally inserted component and the metal member, and the outer shape of the internally inserted component occupies 50% or more relative to the hollow closed cross-section of the metal member as projection area ratio. By disposing the resin-made internally inserted component having a specific toughness at a specified state inside the metal member having a hollow closed cross-section, especially when a collision load occurs, the metal member undergoes ductile deformation and the internally inserted component also deforms correspondingly, and thus the waveform of the load-displacement curve can approach an ideal rectangular waveform, and excellent impact energy absorbing performance can be exhibited.

Presented are structurally reinforced components for vehicle body structures, methods for making/using such components, and motor vehicles equipped with such components. A vehicle body structure includes an elongated support rail (e.g., a pair of lateral roof rails) with an inner contoured rail panel joined to an outer contoured rail panel to define an internal rail cavity. An elongated support pillar (e.g., front, side, and/or back vehicle pillars) adjoins the support rail and includes an inner contoured pillar panel joined to an outer contoured pillar panel to define an internal pillar cavity coupled to the internal rail cavity. The inner rail and pillar panels may be integrally from as a single-piece structure, and the outer rail and pillar panels may be integrally from as a single-piece structure. A structural reinforcement insert is located inside the support pillar and support rail, filling a discrete region within the rail cavity and pillar cavity.

A body reinforcing apparatus for a vehicle is provided at a junction where multiple body members are gathered together and connected to each other to couple the body members. In particular, the body reinforcing apparatus includes: a reinforcing body formed in a 3D-truss structure by a 3D-printing process, and having a plurality of extended portions extended toward the body members; and a fastening member integrally formed with an end of each of the extended portions by inserting the fastening member during the 3D printing process, and having a first end inserted in the extended portion and integrated with the extended portion, and a second end fastened to each of the body members.

A backdoor includes a resin outer panel having an opening; a resin inner panel; a metal reinforcement arranged between the outer panel and the inner panel; and a rear glass covering the opening. The rear glass includes a defogger, and an antenna conductor capable of receiving radio waves in an AM band. The antenna conductor includes a power feeding part, and an antenna element having a predetermined length and connected to the power feeding part. The antenna element includes a proximity part extending along an outer edge among upper, lower, left, and right outer edges of the defogger, and having a predetermined spacing from the outer edge. The antenna element is positioned to be separated from the reinforcement by a predetermined spacing, or positioned on a side with respect to the outer edge where the reinforcement is not present in plan view of the rear glass.

An instrument panel assembly comprising: a crossmember (2) including a first beam (4) and a second beam (6), a center support assembly (8) with a first structural arm (30), a second structural arm (32), and a center support bracket (34); wherein the first beam (4) is hollow and has a larger diameter than the second beam (6), and the second beam (6) is adapted to slide into the first beam (4).