Abstract: A frame assembly for a motor vehicle that may include a first load beam, a second load beam, and a frame rail that are configured for receipt and transfer of energy to a sill that can move the sill in a downward direction. A counterbalancing load beam that includes a first fixed end is attached to the first load beam and a second fixed end is attached to the frame rail. The counterbalancing load beam is configured for receipt of at least a portion of the energy applied to the first load beam, and the counterbalancing load beam is configured to transfer the energy received from the first load beam to the frame rail such that the transfer of energy to the sill that can move the sill in the downward direction is counterbalanced by the energy transferred by the counterbalancing load beam to the frame rail.

Abstract: A frame assembly for a motor vehicle that may include a first load beam, a second load beam, and a frame rail that are configured for receipt and transfer of energy to a sill that can move the sill in a downward direction. A counterbalancing load beam that includes a first fixed end is attached to the first load beam and a second fixed end is attached to the frame rail. The counterbalancing load beam is configured for receipt of at least a portion of the energy applied to the first load beam, and the counterbalancing load beam is configured to transfer the energy received from the first load beam to the frame rail such that the transfer of energy to the sill that can move the sill in the downward direction is counterbalanced by the energy transferred by the counterbalancing load beam to the frame rail.

Abstract: A method of evaluating a vehicle body component design. The method includes: calculating one or more head injury criteria (HIC) ground values for one or more points of interest of a base body component design of a base vehicle; generating an HIC predictive model based on the one or more HIC ground values; obtaining one or more parameter values of one or more points of interest of a candidate body component design, the point(s) of interest of the candidate body component design corresponding to the point(s) of interest of the base body component design of the base vehicle; calculating one or more predicted HIC values for the candidate body component design, wherein the calculation of the predicted HIC value(s) includes inputting the parameter value(s) into the HIC predictive model to obtain the predicted HIC value(s); and evaluating the candidate body component design by inspecting the predicted HIC value(s).