STRUCTURAL MEMBER FOR VEHICLE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structural member for a vehicle capable of obtaining rigidity more than that of a structural member formed mainly of a pipe and of achieving reduction of weight and cost, and also to provide a method for manufacturing the same. SOLUTION: The method for manufacturing the structural member for the vehicle includes a preliminary bending step for forming a strip-shaped metal material 100 into a nearly U-shaped cross section and a main bending step for forming it into an arc shape to obtain a tubular body part. The main bending step has a first body bending step for molding the tubular body part 11 having a nearly arc shape by interposing the strip-shaped metal material 100 between a first concave part 510 and a first convex part 520 while the curled piece 12 of the strip-shaped metal material 100 is positioned at a first convex mold 52 side using a first concave mold 51 and the first convex mold 52. The first convex mold 52 used in the first body bending step is formed of a plurality of first parallel protruding corner parts 523 extending along a longitudinal direction at the surface of the first convex part 520. A plurality of impressions 181 pressed to the first protruding corner part 523 are formed along the longitudinal direction at the inner face of the tubular body part 11 by performing the first body bending step. COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT