Fatigue Behaviour of an Additively Manufactured Drive Wheel Made of Ti6AL4V

This contribution investigates the fatigue behaviour of a newly designed drive wheel made of Ti6Al4V using cold metal fusion. In addition to its actual task, the new drive wheel also serves as a spring element to cushion force peaks caused by the application and thus protect surrounding components. The special design with integrated spokes and stop points allows for a rotation within the drive wheel of 2.9°. The entire wheel was subjected to shape, strength, weight, and function optimisation by means of topology optimisation and specially designed for additive manufacturing using cold metal fusion. Previous tests on small specimens provide the necessary material parameters to carry out a strain life fatigue strength simulation. The simulation was validated by means of component tests on the test bench and in the vehicle.