Vehicle components, such as rocker panels, bumpers, and crush cans, may absorb energy during a vehicle impact. The amount of energy absorbed may be based on a material used to construct the vehicle component. The vehicle component may be constructed of a single material, the material having a specific set of impact absorption characteristics and weight constraints. For example, a material with a higher elastic modulus may have a higher density.
Methods of constructing the vehicle component may use one metal to form the vehicle component. For example, to weld one or more parts of the vehicle component, the parts to be welded may be constructed of the same material to ensure that the parts have similar melting temperatures. Thus, the vehicle component may have specific impact absorption characteristics based on the single material. There remains an opportunity to design a method of constructing the vehicle component from more than one material.