Resilient gap reducing support structures and methods

A method of mounting a gap reducer to a vehicle, comprising:

• attaching operably a bi-modulus bending member to a first vehicle in a cantilevered configuration along a vertical side of the first vehicle, where a cantilevered end of the bi-modulus bending member is arranged to extend within a gap arranged between the first vehicle and a second vehicle when the first and second vehicles are coupled,
• the bi-modulus bending member comprising an elongate bending element having a length, width, and height, each extending perpendicular to the other, the elongate bending element also having a cross-section extending perpendicular to the length in both the direction of the width and in the direction of the height of the elongate bending element, the width being greater than the height in an unbuckled arrangement and the cross-section of the elongate bending element being asymmetric relative to a centerline extending in the direction of the elongate bending element width, the centerline located midway along the height, where each of the bi-modulus bending member and the elongate bending element is configured to elastically buckle and bend to a buckled configuration when a force component exceeds a threshold buckling force, and to elastically return to an unbuckled configuration when the force component is reduced below the threshold buckling force, and,
• coupling operably a gap reducer panel to the bi-modulus bending member, the gap reducer panel having a length extending primarily in a vertical direction and a height extending perpendicular to the length, where the gap reducer panel height extends in a direction away from the first vehicle and to the cantilevered end of the bi-modulus bending member.