A reinforcing steel member for a motor vehicle of the present invention includes a steel sheet, a first resin material disposed on at least a part of a surface of the steel sheet, and a second resin material disposed on at least a part of a surface of the first resin material and having a matrix resin and a reinforcing fiber material contained in the matrix resin, in which in a cross section of the first resin material and the second resin material perpendicular to the surface of the steel sheet, between one end portion of the second resin material and the other end portion of the second resin material, there is a portion having a length of 80 mm or more along a boundary between the second resin material and the first resin material, in the first resin material, a protrusion portion having a length X of 3.0 mm or more from the two end portions of the second resin material to an end portion of the first resin material is formed in the cross section, and a Young's modulus of the first resin material at room temperature is 1/10 or less of a Young's modulus of the second resin material at room temperature.

A low floor road vehicle, in the form for example of a passenger bus, includes a front module that includes the front load-carrying axle at its front, a rear module including the rear load-carrying axle, a central module having a flat floor and lateral side walls that longitudinally extend beyond both longitudinal ends of the flat floor so as to define front and back module attaching portions, and a roof mounted to both lateral side walls so as to extend beyond the floor both towards the front and back, which brings rigidity to the overall structure. The vehicle being modular, the central module can be configured to a specific application, for example by varying the length thereof, while same configurations of the front and rear modules can be used in all applications. Also, the front axle being located at the front of the front module, the access to the passenger area defined by the flat floor is improved.

The present disclosure relates to reinforcing a vehicle pillar. The vehicle pillar includes a corner member and a reinforcement member. The reinforcement member is additively manufactured and may utilize functionally graded materials. The reinforcement member may be directly deposited on the corner member or may be manufactured separately and coupled thereafter to the corner member. The reinforcement member includes a first component, and a second component. Additionally, the reinforcement member may include a third component that extend angularly from the first and second component to form a Y-shaped structure. The reinforcement member can include multiple attachment joints that facilitate consolidating and coupling the reinforcement member with various vehicle components.

Provided are a body frame member capable of suppressing deformation due to springback, and a method for manufacturing the same. The body frame member 1 of the present invention is formed in a substantially U shape by a web 2 extending in a front-rear direction of a vehicle body, an upper flange 3 extending inward in a vehicle width direction from an upper end of the web 2 and a lower flange 4 extending inward in the vehicle width direction from a lower end of the web 2, and comprises a kick-up portion 5 bent in the vertical direction of the vehicle body, and a convex portion 21 protruding outward or inward in the vehicle width direction is integrally formed from the upper end to the lower end of the web 2 at a portion of the web 2 where the kick-up portion 5 is provided.

A trailer frame is disclosed that comprises a panel with a plurality of inserts installed at certain hard point locations where external components and equipment may be attached. In one embodiment, the inserts are two-piece formed hard points, whereas in other embodiments, the inserts are one piece solid hard points. In some embodiments, the panel is a sandwich panel. The inserts may be installed in the panel in a variety of manners, for example, they may be set flush within shallow pockets machined or routed into the panel's outer skins. Also, brackets may be utilized to interconnect components or equipment to the hard point inserts.

A hybrid component comprising at least two component portions, which are connected via at least one connection portion, wherein: the at least one connection portion extends in a joining direction; a first component portion is formed from a first material which has a first modulus of elasticity; a second component portion is formed from a second material which has a second modulus of elasticity different from the first modulus of elasticity; and the at least one connection portion is designed at least to compensate for a sudden change in rigidity between the two component portions, the at least one connection portion having a rigidity that increases in the joining direction and in the direction of the component portion with the higher modulus of elasticity.

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 vehicular body structural arrangement includes a unitarily-formed polymeric bed box including a bulkhead panel, an elongate reinforcement including a spine, and a row of rivet nuts securing the reinforcement to the bulkhead panel in an unconcealed manner. The reinforcement is backed against the bulkhead panel from outside the bed box. The rivet nuts are installed to the bulkhead panel against the reinforcement facing inside the bed box.

A disclosed component for a motor vehicle includes a component main body, with at least one reinforcing element integrated in a component matrix of the component main body. The at least one reinforcing element may be fastened to the component main body. The component for a motor vehicle has a high component stability, is able to be manufactured with relatively low production costs and enables integration of functional components. The component includes the reinforcing element as a band with a plastics matrix and embedded unidirectionally oriented continuous fibers. A method for manufacturing such a component is also disclosed.

A vehicle roof stiffener includes a metal or metal alloy frame defining a central opening and at least one corner. The vehicle roof stiffener also includes a fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) portion including at least one transition structure comprising a metal or a metal alloy. At least some of the fibers of the FRP portion are embedded in the transition structure. The FRP portion is located in the at least one corner. In some examples, the frame includes an opening in the at least one corner, and the FRP portion spans the opening. In other examples, the FRP portion overlaps the frame at the at least one corner. The FRP portion located at the corner may improve rigidity of the roof stiffener to increase resistance to a racking motion and increase the overall stiffness of the vehicle.