DESIGN AND SIMULATION OF COMPOSITE WHEEL

In order to improve the vehicle performance and the fuel efficiency the total weight of the vehicle has to be reduced. The mass of the vehicle is characterised as sprung and un-sprung mass. Lower values of the unsprungmass will lead to faster response time. An effective way in doing this is to construct the wheels out of carbon fiber composite. In doing so, not only is the overall weight of the vehicle reduced, but rotation inertia and unsprung mass are reduced as well. This paper aims at development of the composite wheel rim. Several boundary and loadingconditions were considered, such as tire inflation pressure, cornering with accelerating or breaking and vehicle weight.