An embodiment vehicle body includes a side sill coupled to a side of a vehicle floor and extending in a front-rear direction of the vehicle body, a coupling member coupled to a top of the side sill and having a coupling groove penetrating in an up-down direction, and a pillar member extending in the up-down direction such that an upper end portion is connected to a roof and a lower end portion is inserted into the coupling groove and coupled to the coupling member.

A motor-vehicle lattice frame that includes a plurality of structural nodes each having a central body and at least one hollow arm protruding from the central body. The lattice frame also includes a plurality of beam elements connected to each other by means of the hollow protruding arms. The structural nodes are made by an additive manufacturing technique and at least one arm of one of the nodes has an end portion opposite to said central body having a channel shape with an open cavity both at a front end of the arm and along one side of the arm.

An embodiment includes a method of manufacturing a plastic composite material panel. A gel type plastic composite material is loaded onto a fixed die having a first molding surface of a flat shape for molding a material filling portion and a second molding surface for molding an outer plate portion. A first movable die having a third molding surface for molding the material filling portion and a fourth molding surface for molding the outer plate portion is combined with a second movable die having a molding groove for molding the material filling portion to the fixed die. The outer plate portion is formed by the second and fourth molding surfaces and the material filling portion is integrally formed with the outer plate portion by the first and third molding surfaces and the molding groove. The material filling portion is thicker than the outer plate portion.

A glass pane which covers a surface region of a vehicle roof and has an edge protection at a pane edge of the glass pane. The edge protection can be formed by an edge protection strip which covers the glass pane at its pane edge, and a vehicle roof) having such a glass pane, the glass pane being adhesively bonded to a support surface of a roof component of the vehicle roof so as to form a gap between the glass pane and the support surface and the edge protection strip being arranged so as to be contact-free with respect to the support surface and/or contact-free with respect to the adhesive bond of the glass pane to the support surface.

A connecting element for producing a structural connection between a first structural part and a second structural part by a foamable material, the connecting element includes a plug-in part and at least two chambers separated from one another in a fluid-tight manner by a partition, the at least two chambers each accommodating a reactant; a plug-in delimiting part mechanically connected to the plug-in part and configured to delimit displacement of the plug-in part in the plug-in direction; and a break-open mechanism configured to damage the partition, as a result of a break-open force supplied to the break-open mechanism, such that the fluid-tight manner between the at least two chambers is canceled, wherein reactants are selected such that mixing thereof causes a foaming reaction, which extends radially outward beyond the circumferential surface of the plug-in part.

A vehicle body structure includes: a pair of roof side rails, each of which constitutes at least one each of closed cross sections and extends in a vehicle longitudinal direction; and a roof panel that is stretched between the pair of roof side rails and extends in a vehicle width direction. The roof panel has: a body section that extends in the vehicle width direction; and a flange section that is provided to both end portions in the vehicle width direction of the body section and extends in the vehicle width direction along a lower surface of the closed cross section. The flange section is fixed to a lower surface of the closed cross section.

There is provided a component joining structure that includes: a resin component; a metal tip that is provided in the resin component by insert molding, and that includes protruding portions that protrude from the resin component; and a metal component that is spot welded to the protruding portions, and that is joined to the resin component by an adhesive agent that is provided in gaps formed, by the protruding portions, between the resin component and the metal component.

A front pillar outer includes a first member and a second member. The first member includes a first glass-surface-side flange part and a first door-side flange part. The sheet thickness of the second member is thinner than the sheet thickness of the first member. The second member includes a second glass-surface-side flange part and a second door-side flange part. The first door-side flange part protrudes further towards the rear end of the front pillar outer than the first glass-surface-side flange part and a first main body part, and overlaps with the second door-side flange part. The second glass-surface-side flange part overlaps with a rearward region of the first glass-surface-side flange part. A second main body part overlaps with a rearward region of the first main body part. In a region in which the first member overlaps with the second member, the first member is joined to the second member.

Systems and methods produce or provide a folded connection, sealed by means of an adhesive composition, between a first sheetlike element and a second sheetlike element. The systems and methods bond a second flange of the second sheetlike element with at least one layer of an adhesive composition to a first flange of the first sheetlike element, in such a way that an end of the second flange of the second sheetlike element is indented by a distance relative to an end of the first flange of the first sheetlike element. The systems and methods bead the first flange of the first sheetlike element around the second flange of the second sheetlike element and, after the beading, an adhesive-composition part is placed around an edge of the first flange of the first sheetlike element and bonded to a second surface of the first flange of the first sheetlike element.

An additively manufactured node is disclosed. A node is an additively manufactured (AM) structure that includes a feature, e.g., a socket, a receptacle, etc., for accepting another structure, e.g., a tube, a panel, etc. An additively manufactured node can include a surface with an opening to a feed channel through the node. A second surface of the node can include with a plurality of openings to an array of outlet channels. Each of the outlet channels can extend through the node and can connect to the feed channel. Tortuous paths can be used between channels created by the node surface and adjacent structures as well as node interior surfaces. These tortuous paths can be tuned to allow for optimal fluid flow processes.