A thermally insulated floor for a trailer includes a layer of parallel support beams. Each support beam is oriented in a direction substantially perpendicular to a forward direction of the trailer. A substantially planar panel of thermally insulating material is disposed on and supported by the layer of parallel support beams. A substantially planar layer of extruded aluminum is disposed on and supported by the panel of thermally insulating material. The support beams, the panel of thermally insulating material, and the layer of extruded aluminum are secured together.

An embodiment vehicle roof structure includes a front roof rail and a rear roof rail coupled to front and rear portions of side structures, respectively, the side structures being disposed along opposite sides of a vehicle body in a vehicle width direction, a center roof rail assembly disposed between the front roof rail and the rear roof rail and coupled to the side structures, a front roof panel including a first plastic composite material and coupled to the front roof rail, the center roof rail assembly, and the front portions of the side structures, a rear roof panel including a second plastic composite material and coupled to the rear roof rail, the center roof rail assembly, and the rear portions of the side structures, and a center roof panel including a steel material and coupled to the center roof rail assembly and center portions of the side structures.

A body part for a road vehicle comprising:

an outer portion configured to be arranged on the outer side of a road vehicle and defining a first side of the roof panel; an inner portion configured to be arranged, with respect to the outer portion, towards a passenger compartment of the road vehicle and defining a second side of roof panel; wherein the outer portion comprises one or more first composite material layers; and the inner portion comprises at least one or more second composite material layers; an intermediate portion arranged between the inner portion and the outer portion; wherein the intermediate portion comprises, in turn, a layer of sound-absorbing material; and wherein the inner portion, the intermediate portion and the outer portion are integrally coupled together forming a single multilayer body.

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.

A vehicle body joint structure includes: a frame member made of a metal pipe, extending from a side of a vehicle body to be inclined vertically, and configured to form a front pillar; and a body member made of a plastic composite material, including a dash connection part and a cowl connection part, joined to the frame member, and configured to cover the frame member.

A method of forming a composite panel in-line is disclosed. The method includes the steps of forming a hot thermal plastic sheet of material and providing the hot thermal plastic sheet of material to a punch having punch members extending outwardly therefrom. The hot thermal plastic sheet of material is advanced through the punch in order to form apertures through the hot thermal plastic sheet of material such that each aperture extends from an outer surface of the hot thermal plastic sheet of material to an inner surface of the hot thermal plastic sheet of material. An outer metal sheet and an inner metal sheet, respectively, are coupled to opposing sides of the hot thermal plastic sheet of material.

A panel structure includes: a panel made of metal; and a reinforcement joined to the panel and made of a plurality of FRP layers including continuous fibers, in which each of the plurality of FRP layers has a single fiber direction, at least one layer out of the plurality of FRP layers has a fiber direction different from that of another layer, in the plurality of FRP layers, a proportion of layers having an angular difference in the fiber direction of 30° or more is 15% or more of all of the layers, and when calculating, by defining a long side direction being a long direction of a long edge of the panel as a 90° direction and a direction orthogonal to the 90° direction as a 0° direction, each of a 90° direction component and a 0° direction component regarding the fiber direction of each FRP layer of the reinforcement joined to the panel, by using a trigonometric function, an expression (1) is satisfied.

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 automotive crashworthiness energy absorption part provided at a front part or a rear part of an automotive body and absorbing crashworthiness energy by undergoing axial crush when receiving input of a crashworthiness load from a front or a rear of the automotive body includes: a tubular member configured to absorb crashworthiness energy by undergoing axial crush, the tubular member including a top portion and side wall portions continuous with the top portion; and resin coated or patched on first outer surfaces including at least outer surfaces of the top portion and the side wall portions of the tubular member. The coated or patched resin has a thickness of 8 mm or less after being heated, forms at least part of a peripheral wall portion of a closed cross section space, and is bonded to the first outer surfaces with an adhesive strength of 10 MPa or more.

A method of manufacturing a closed cross-section structural member is disclosed. The closed cross-section structural member includes: a first panel and a second panel joined to each other to form a closed cross-section; and a fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) material bonded to the first panel. The method includes: attaching the FRP material to the first panel with an adhesive; curing the FRP material and the adhesive by heating the FRP material and the adhesive together with the first panel; and joining the second panel to the first panel in which the FRP material and the adhesive are cured.