Correlation between vertical wheel impact energy with lateral wheel impact energy: A finite element analysis approach

Abstract

A dynamic loading impact test was performed on a wheel rim using the Finite Element method. It is a convenient, practical and more economic to use computational simulation compared to a real experiment which may involve high costs in order to provide enough specimens for repeated experiments. The study’s aim is to investigate the correlation between the impact energy absorbed in 13 degree and 90 degree impact tests using three different materials, namely Aluminium 6061-T6, Magnesium AM60 and Stainless Steel 304L. For the wheel rim, the elasto-plastic condition was applied. The striker is set to move downwards with a velocity of -22222.2 mm/s and a mass of 144 kg. The mesh sizes implemented in this work are 10 mm, 7 mm and 5 mm. It is found that the peak load in the 90 degree impact test is greater than the 13 degree impact test. Due to dissimilar wheel orientation and contact area during the impact, the energy absorbed obtained in the 13 degree impact test is lower than the 90 degree impact test. Aluminium shows the best results compared to the other material with a percentage of correlation of 24.40 %. Whereas, Stainless Steel recorded the highest value of deviation percentage compared to the other materials. The result shows that this can be the basis to study the parameters for wheel changes such as the use of new materials, and the thickness, size and pattern of spokes.