On the Mechanical Behavior of Distinct Auto Wheel Materials Under Static and Dynamic In-service Loading Cycle

Abstract

Automobile wheels serve as a primary means of support to a moving and stationary car while being subjected to static and dynamic loading in the process. The present study examines the mechanical behavior of different auto wheel materials under the aforementioned loading conditions using Finite Element Method (FEM). The wheel was modlled and simulated in SOLIDWORKS 2018 version using different materials including carbon fibre (T300), cast alloy steel, aluminium (2014-T6) and magnesium alloy. Considering the simulation conditions of lowest static stress (von-mises), lowest resultant strain, lowest displacement (static and raidal) and lowest bending, cast alloy steel met all the requirements except for static strain where carbon fibre was the lowest followed by cast alloy steel. Carbon fibre (T300) among all the materials had the highest static stress (von-mises), highest displacement (static and raidal) and highest bending. Static stress for aluminium (2014-T6) was lower than that of magnesium alloy while resultant strain, static and radial displacement as well as bending was lower for aluminium (2014-T6) than magnesium alloy. Von-mises stress for all the wheel materials where below their yield strength, indicating that they can perform optimally under the above mentioned loading condition. The primary concern with steel wheel is the high density which serves as additional advantage to the other three materials due to their low density, but steel wheel is inexpensive, strong, tough and more durable compared to the other materials.