The invention relates generally to structural steel components for automotive vehicles, and methods for manufacturing the structural components. The method includes heating a workpiece to at least 900° C. to form austenite in the steel material, hot forming the workpiece, and quenching the formed workpiece to transform the austenite to martensite. The method next includes tempering at least one portion of the quenched workpiece, wherein the tempering step includes simultaneously applying thermal energy and a magnetic field to the workpiece. During the tempering step, the martensite of the steel material transforms to a mixture of ferrite and cementite precipitates. The portions of the steel material subject to the thermomagnetic tempering are also typically free of pearlite and spheroid particles. The remainder of the workpiece is protected during the tempering step to maintain a hard zone including the martensite.

A vehicle body structure having left and right side frames located on both sides in a vehicle width direction, each side frame including an end on an external force acting side that receives a collision load in a vehicle longitudinal direction acting from outside of a vehicle, and an end on an opposite side of the end on the external force acting side. The side frames are provided with a plurality of fragile portions on left and right sides. The plurality of fragile portions include at least left and right first fragile portions located at the ends on the external force acting side, and left and right second fragile portions located on sides of the ends on the opposite side. An area of each of the left and right first fragile portions is set to be larger than each of areas of the left and right second fragile portions.

A thermal-assisted method deforms plastically a high-strength material using a high-intensive heat source. The high-strength material may be a cold-rolled sheet aluminum of strength greater than 300 megapascal (MPa) or a cold-rolled sheet steel of strength greater than 1000 MPa. The cold-rolled sheet metal is heated just before bending to a temperature near or above the critical temperature for the material and is followed by rapid quenching after bending.

A body structure for a passenger car has B-pillar reinforcements of which each have an upper attachment section for attachment to the roof area and a lower attachment section for attachment to the floor assembly or to a side sill. The B-pillar reinforcements are formed as integral tubes made of high-strength steel material and, between the lower attachment sections of the tubes and the upper attachment sections thereof, have a curved course having a constant radius of curvature.

A side sill for a motor vehicle has a side-sill inner part assigned to a floor assembly, a bottom flange and a side-sill outer part which bounds a cavity of the side sill, in which a reinforcing part, which is fastened to the side-sill inner part, is arranged. In order to provide a side sill which is optimized in respect of simple manufacturing and installation and also needs-oriented design, and by which improved adaptability of the components to different construction variants is possible, the side-sill inner part and the bottom flange are designed as separate components which are connected to each other at least indirectly along a flange connection running in the direction of longitudinal extent of the side sill.

A vehicle subframe is provided with a main body formed in a hollow shape by a core unit. The subframe includes: a top parallel section and a bottom rear parallel section provided to the top and the bottom of the main body; a top left sand elimination opening and a top right sand eliminating opening formed at the top parallel section; and a left bottom rear sand elimination opening and a right bottom rear sand elimination opening formed at the bottom rear parallel section. The left bottom rear sand elimination opening is provided to a site opposing the top left sand elimination opening, and is formed in a shape equivalent to the top left sand elimination opening. The right bottom rear sand elimination opening is provided to a site opposing the top right sand elimination opening, and is formed in a shape equivalent to the top right sand elimination opening.

The vehicle front body structure (2) comprises an upper longitudinal beam (10, 12) and a reinforcing element (14,16) for reinforcing the wheel casing of the vehicle, said reinforcing element (14, 16) extending in a longitudinal direction substantially parallel to the upper longitudinal beam (10, 12), said upper longitudinal beam (10, 12) comprising an attachment portion (40), comprising an attachment area for attaching a connecting element (8) joining the upper longitudinal beam (10, 12) to a lower beam (22, 24) of the vehicle. The vehicle front body structure (2) further comprises a linking element (18, 20) joining the reinforcing element (14, 16) and the upper longitudinal beam (10, 12). The linking element (18, 20) is attached to the attachment portion (40) of the upper longitudinal beam (10, 12).

Processes for forming blanks having tailored properties in localized areas are provided. The blanks are then formed into three-dimensionally shaped components (e.g., high-strength automotive parts). A sheet of high-strength metal alloy may be selectively heated in a first region to a temperature below a melting point of the metal alloy with a heat source, while a second region of the sheet adjacent to the first region remains unheated. The selective heating creates a first region of the metal alloy having at least one material property distinct from the second region. After the sheet is cut to form a blank, the blank comprises a portion of the first region and a portion of the second region. In this manner, a plurality of distinct tailored regions may be formed on each blank. The process may be continuous or semi-continuous and further include cutting of blanks from the sheet. High-strength structural components are also provided.

A sheet metal component that is made of a press-hardened steel sheet material and is to be used as a vehicle body component for a motor vehicle, is provided. The sheet metal component has at least one overhardened component region which is provided to act as a predetermined breaking point in the event of being subject to a crash load. A component assembly and a motor vehicle body, which have at least one such press-hardened sheet metal component, are also provided.

A crush-tube assembly for securing a truck bed to a frame of a vehicle. The crush-tube assembly includes a first hole defined by the truck bed, a crush-tube defining an inner diameter, a cross-member defining a second hole, and a frame defining a third hole. A bolt extends through the first hole, the crush-tube, the second hole, and third hole. The inner diameter is smaller than the second hole and maintains pressure around a periphery of the second hole. The pressure applied by the bolt around the hole in the cross-member prevents abrasion of the e-coat previously applied to the cross-member and thereby reduces the potential for corrosion of the cross-member.