Structural body of a vehicle having an energy absorbing device and a method of forming the energy absorbing device

1. A structural body of a vehicle, comprising:

a body-in-white (BIW) structural vehicle component that is hollow and comprises walls that define a cavity, wherein the BIW structural vehicle component has a component length, and an energy-absorbing device located in the cavity, the energy-absorbing device, including:

a polymer reinforcement structure,

wherein the polymer reinforcement structure comprises a polymer matrix and chopped fibers; and

a shell comprising two walls extending from a back and forming a U-shaped shell channel of a crush countermeasure of the BIW structural vehicle component,

wherein the shell comprises a laminate formed of a layup of alternating layers of fibers structure and a resin matrix such that, for each layer in the layup, fibers of the fiber structures are oriented a different angle than the fibers of each adjacent layer;

wherein the polymer matrix with chopped fibers is overmolded onto the shell to form the polymer reinforcement structure located in the shell channel, the polymer reinforcement structure being inseparably attached directly to the shell;

wherein the polymer reinforcement structure comprises honeycombs and/or ribs; and

wherein the fiber structure includes continuous fibers that comprise at least one of:

fabric fibers, wherein the fabric fibers are located in a single plane and oriented in at least two directions; and

unidirectional tape fibers, wherein greater than or equal to 90% of the unidirectional tape fibers are oriented in the same direction.

2. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein

the continuous fibers comprise fabric fibers,

wherein the fabric fibers are located in a single plane and oriented in at least two directions.

3. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein

the continuous fibers comprise unidirectional tape fibers,

wherein greater than or equal to 90% of the unidirectional tape fibers are oriented in the same direction.

4. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein:

the shell comprises a plurality of holes through the two walls that extend from the back; and

some of the polymer matrix is located in the holes, forming a mechanical bond between the shell and the polymer reinforcement structure.

5. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein:

the shell comprises a plurality of openings at edges of the shell; and

some of the polymer matrix is located in the openings, forming a mechanical bond between the shell and the polymer reinforcement structure.

6. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein

the polymer reinforcement structure comprises honeycombs that extend in the same direction as the walls toward the back.

7. The structural body of claim 6 , wherein:

the shell channel has a major axis;

the honeycombs comprises honeycomb channels; and

the honeycomb channels are oriented perpendicular to the major axis.

8. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein

the polymer reinforcement structure has a hollow honeycomb structure with hexagonal comb geometry.

9. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein:

the resin matrix is a polymeric resin matrix.

10. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein

the chopped fibers are selected from glass fibers, carbon fibers, bamboo fibers, aramid fibers, and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing.

11. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein

the device forms a structural vehicle component comprising bumper beam, rail, pillar, chassis, floor rocker, cross-bar, an instrument panel, cross-car member, door support bar, seat structure, suspension controller, engine block, oil pump cover, and combinations comprising at least one of the foregoing.

12. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein

the device comprises metal fibers and is otherwise metal free.

13. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein

the device comprises no metal shell, coating, or housing.

14. The structural body of claim 1 , wherein

energy-absorbing device is metal free.

15. A vehicle, comprising:

the structural body of claim 1 ;

an engine; and

a drive mechanism.

16. A method of forming the energy-absorbing device of claim 1 , comprising:

forming the shell by:

feeding the fiber structure and resin film to a heated belt to form the layup;

increasing a temperature and the pressure to flow the resin film into the fiber structure to form the laminate;

cooling the laminate to solidify the laminate;

placing the laminate onto a hinged platen in a forming tool;

heating the laminate;

moving a first movable section and second movable section toward a core, and decreasing a distance between the core and an intermediate section, such that the laminate bends to form the shell;

cooling the shell;

removing the shell from the forming tool; and

overmolding the shell with the polymer reinforcement structure to form the energy absorbing device.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising

applying a drying pressure to allow moisture release to form a dried layup.