Structural Analysis of Alloy Wheels

Abstract

The wheel of a car plays a pivotal role to endure the weight applied on it. Usually spokes behave as the supports between the hub and the rim. These spokes must have adequate stiffness and strength to dodge the failure of the wheel. In current days these wheels are comprised of, magnesium alloy, steel and aluminum alloy. To decrease the weight of the wheel, numerous wheel designs are executed and applied for automobiles. As regard to the study of the vehicle stability, it is adequate to perform the structural analysis of the wheels so as to know the equivalent modal considerations. In this work, a Cad model of a typical alloy wheel was designed in SOLIDWORKS software and dynamic analysis is performed on this model. The Stress analysis and Fatigue analysis was done on the chosen design. By observing the results we can see whether the design of wheel and the material is feasible or not under applied load conditions. A comparative study is performed by using results of the analysis of the wheel using different materials. The materials used are: Magnesium Alloy, Stainless Steel and Aluminum Alloy and Titanium Alloy in the end best suitable material for the wheel is determined.