Abstract: A battery support structure for a vehicle includes a plurality of side reinforcement members and front and rear reinforcement members. The plurality of side reinforcement members are configured to extend longitudinally relative to an associated vehicle frame, and the front and rear reinforcement members are configured to extend laterally relative to the associated vehicle frame. A plurality of module nodes are attached between adjacent ends of the side reinforcement members and the front and rear members to together form a containment wall that generally surrounds a battery containment area. The plurality of module nodes comprise corner sections of the containment wall, such that a length of the side reinforcement members or the front and rear reinforcement members is selected to provide a desired respective length or width of the battery containment area.

Abstract: A crossmember for a vehicle battery tray provides a beam that has a closed cross-sectional shape with a top wall coupled with parallel side walls along a length of the beam. A reinforcing top cap is disposed along the beam, where a C-shaped transverse cross-sectional shape of the top cap has a central section that disposed along the top wall and legs of the top cap welded to the side walls. The legs include inward angled tabs that are biased against the beam and welded thereto. The top wall of the beam and the central section of the top cap have aligned fastener openings disposed at spaced intervals along the length of the beam and configured to receive fasteners that secure at least one of a battery module or tray cover to the crossmember.

Abstract: A battery tray for an electric vehicle includes a battery support structure that has a floor and a perimeter wall extending around a peripheral portion of the floor to border a battery containment area. A plurality of cross members are coupled with the perimeter wall at opposing sides of the battery support structure, where the cross members extend laterally across the battery containment area. A cover is engaged with an upper portion of the perimeter wall of the battery support structure. The cover, the floor, and/or the cross members may include a retention element that is integrally formed therewith and that is configured to engage a component that is disposed in the battery containment area.

Abstract: A battery support tray for an electric vehicle includes a tray floor structure that has an upper surface that is configured to interface with battery modules. The battery support tray also includes a plurality of cooling features that integrally extend along portions of the tray floor structure that are configured to draw heat away from the battery modules supported at the upper surface of the tray floor structure. The tray floor structure may also have a cross-sectional profile that is substantially consistent longitudinally along a length of the tray floor structure or laterally across a width of the tray floor structure, such as formed from extruding a metal, such as an aluminum alloy.

Abstract: A battery tray for supporting batteries at a lower portion of a vehicle frame includes a floor plate and a perimeter wall disposed around the of the floor plate to substantially surround a containment area for storing vehicle battery cells. The perimeter wall includes a tubular member that extends along a periphery of the floor plate to form a perimeter wall around a containment area for storing vehicle battery cells. The perimeter wall is attached at an upper surface of the floor plate, such that the containment area may be generally bounded horizontally by the perimeter wall and at the bottom by the floor plate.

Abstract: A method of forming and processing a high strength aluminum alloy for the production of a vehicle component includes providing a metal sheet that was rolled from an aluminum alloy. The sheet is heat treated through a first aging step of a set of aging steps that are necessary to achieve a T6 or a T7 temper state. Prior to achieving the T6 or a T7 temper state, the sheet is formed to a desired shape and welded in the desired shape to produce a desired vehicle component. Once formed, the vehicle component is heat treated through a remaining aging step to achieve a T6 or T7 temper state homogeneously throughout the vehicle component.

Abstract: A vehicle battery tray includes a floor assembly that has elongated tray sections that attach together at lateral edge portions of adjacent tray sections to form a floor structure that supports vehicle batteries contained in the vehicle battery tray. The elongated tray sections each have a substantially consistent cross-sectional shape that extends longitudinally along a length of the respective tray section. A first tray section includes a first attachment feature at the lateral edge portion thereof and a second tray section includes a second attachment feature at the lateral edge portion thereof that corresponds with the first attachment feature. The first and second attachment features engage together at a longitudinal seam between the lateral edge portions of the first and second tray sections, such as to align upper surfaces of the first and second tray sections.

Abstract: A loading bracket assembly includes a base bracket having an engagement portion that is disposed at an interior area of a composite vehicle structural component and that is accessible through the first wall. A fastener may be attached to the engagement portion of the base bracket and may extend through an intermediate wall of the composite vehicle structural component and a supportive structure of the vehicle. The engagement portion of the base bracket is configured to engage a component or an accessory, such as a tow hook, that applies a loading force to the base bracket that is substantially transferred to the supportive structure and bypasses the composite vehicle structural component.

Abstract: A hybrid bumper assembly for a vehicle includes a steel reinforcement beam and aluminum crush cans attached to end portions of the steel reinforcement beam. The reinforcement beam has a multi-tubular shape that is formed by a high-strength steel sheet that is roll formed to provide at least two tubular portions. A crush can has an interfacing portion that is coupled to an end portion of the reinforcement beam. The end portions of the reinforcement beam and the interfacing portion of the crush cans may be configured to attach together using a select joining technology in a manner that minimizes or eliminates bimetallic or galvanic corrosion between the reinforcement beam and the crush cans.

Abstract: A battery tray for an electric vehicle includes a tub component that has a floor portion and a perimeter wall portion that integrally extends upward around a peripheral edge of the floor portion to border a battery containment area of the tub component. The tub component may include a plurality of cross member portions that integrally interconnect with the floor portion and the perimeter wall portion so as to span laterally across the battery containment area to divide the battery containment area into separate compartments. A support structure of the battery tray may have an elongated member coupled at an exterior side of each of opposing longitudinal sections of the perimeter wall portion of the tub component.

Abstract: A battery support tray for an electric vehicle includes a tray floor structure that has an upper surface that is configured to interface with battery modules. The battery support tray also includes a plurality of cooling features that integrally extend along portions of the tray floor structure that are configured to draw heat away from the battery modules supported at the upper surface of the tray floor structure. The tray floor structure may also have a cross-sectional profile that is substantially consistent longitudinally along a length of the tray floor structure or laterally across a width of the tray floor structure, such as formed from extruding a metal, such as an aluminum alloy.

Abstract: A method for warm forming an aluminum beam, such as an aluminum component for a vehicle, includes providing an extruded aluminum beam with a hollow cross-sectional shape. A portion of a forming die is heated to a desired temperature, so as to heat a portion of the aluminum beam in the die to a temperature below the artificial aging temperature of the aluminum beam. The heated aluminum beam is deformed to a desired shape with the die in a direction transverse to a length of the aluminum beam.

Abstract: A vehicle reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet to provide a multi-tubular reinforcement beam that includes two adjacent tubular sections that share a common center wall. The outer sections the metal sheet extend from opposing ends of the common center wall and are formed to enclose the adjacent tubular sections. An edge portion of the metal sheet that is bent to have a bend radius of about 3-9 mm, where the edge portions attach in abutting and continuous contact with the common center wall to form crevices between the adjacent tubular sections along the first and second faces. A weld is formed in each of the crevices to define crevice ribs in general alignment with and at each of the opposing first and second ends of the common center wall that are configured to improve bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.

Abstract: A vehicle battery tray has a floor assembly with elongated tray sections that attach together at edge portions of adjacent tray sections of the elongated tray sections to form a floor structure that supports vehicle batteries contained in the vehicle battery tray. The elongated tray sections may have substantially consistent cross-sectional shapes that extends along a length of the tray sections. A thickness of the tray sections at a central area of the floor structure may be greater than a thickness of another one of the elongated tray sections at an outboard area of the floor structure, such as to withstand an equal or greater transverse bending moment than the outboard area of the floor structure.

Abstract: A battery support structure for a vehicle includes a first peripheral member configured to be supported by a longitudinal section of a vehicle frame. A second peripheral member has an end surface that selectively attaches at an inside surface of the first peripheral member to enclose a corner section of a battery containment area. Prior to fixed attachment of the first and second peripheral members, a slip plane is defined between the end surface and the inside surface to adjust the second peripheral member along the first peripheral member to a predefined dimension of the battery containment area.

Abstract: A battery tray for a vehicle includes two tray components or pieces that attach or mate together, such as with one tray component over or within the other tray component, to form sealed and separate battery containment areas. The lower tray component that has a panel portion and a pair of elongated reinforcement members integrally protruding upward from opposing edges of the panel portion. Also, the upper tray component has a panel portion and a cross members that integrally extend across its panel portion. The upper tray component is disposed at an upper surface of the panel portion of the lower tray component with the cross members extending between the elongated reinforcement members and defining a battery containment area between each of the cross members.

Abstract: A beam article for a vehicle includes a plurality of separate elongated metal sheets attached together to form generally planar walls of an elongated tubular structure. At least one of the plurality of separate elongated metal sheets has a shear wall that is disposed along a hollow interior of the elongated tubular structure and is attached at opposing walls of the elongated tubular structure. At least one of the plurality of separate elongated metal sheets comprises an edge that abuts a side surface of an adjacent one of the plurality of separate elongated metal sheets to define a non-radiused perpendicular weld corner along the elongated tubular structure.

Abstract: A bumper reinforcement beam includes sheets pre-formed to have integral features and to have a final beam shape with non-radiused corners and optimal impact properties, including beams with constant or varied cross-sectional shapes, and beams made of steel, aluminum, or hybrid materials or combinations of material, all of which allow minimization of weight. The non-radiused corners offer excellent impact strength and properties. Beam impact properties can be improved or locally tuned for particular functional requirements by material selection, or by adding an internal reinforcement on an inside center of the front wall, or by localized annealing of the welds to minimize stress risers, or by localized features and shapes. The sheets can be welded using welding processes that provide low heat-affected-zones around the weld or by localized annealing, thus minimizing any adverse effect of welding.

Abstract: An impact beam for reinforcing a vehicle door includes an elongated beam having a hollow interior spanning a length of the elongated beam. The elongated beam includes an impact portion spanning the length and configured to face an exterior side of the vehicle door. The elongated beam also includes a cross-sectional shape having a top wall section and a bottom wall section that interconnect at a bend section of the cross-sectional shape, which includes the impact portion. The top and bottom wall sections each include an intermediate bend to define a substantially horizontal section and an angled section on opposing sides of the intermediate bend, where the intermediate bends are configured to limit inward displacement of the elongated beam from an impact force at the exterior side of the vehicle door.

Abstract: The present bumper impact beam includes pultruding polymer (e.g. thermoset polymer, preferably polyurethane) into continuous reinforcement (preferably carbon fibers or glass fibers), the reinforcement including fabrics selectively positioned and extending around corners for improved impact strength. The beam preferably has a 50%-70% fiber volume fraction that is relatively uniform throughout the part. A curved cooling support and/or beam design may be used to cause the cooled beam to have a sweep.