Abstract:
Automobile wheel is an important component in vehicles to support the vehicle weight and maintain the contact between the vehicle body and road. Automotive wheels have evolved over the decades using materials from steels to aluminum and magnesium alloys. Aluminum wheels have gain popularity over steel wheels because they have less weight, better cosmetic appearance, and higher thermal conductivity for faster dissipation of heat from brakes. A rim is subject to mainly radial load and inflation pressure. The radial load is exerted on the rim as a vertical reaction force by road surface on four tires to balance the weight of a car. The radial load is applied to the rim at the bead seats with the tire, following a cosine function distribution around the contact area. The tire air pressure is applied directly on the rim at its outer side and indirectly at the rim flange. This project studied the influence of the radial load and the tire inflation pressure on the stress and displacement distribution in the wheel rim. A computer aided design model of an aluminum alloy wheel rim is analyzed using ANSYS. The geometrical parameters of the rim is further optimized to reduce weight.
