Investigation of Aluminium-Alloy Wheel Using FEA and Energy Absorption Experiments

Aluminium alloy wheels are used extensively in many applications, for they inherit various advantageous properties like non-corrosiveness, less weight, and lustrous outlook. In addition, aluminium alloy wheels also exhibit high energy-absorbing capacity. Energy absorption is a material property by which a material subjected to an external load converts the applied load into energy and stores it internally as strain energy. Aluminium 6061-T6 alloy material exhibits very high energy absorbing capacity with Young's modulus: 69GPa, Poisson’s ratio: 0.33, Tensile yield strength: 275Mpa, and Tensile ultimate strength: 310 MPa. These characteristics make this alloy suitable for the manufacturing of wheels. The test conducted to determine the maximum energy a wheel can absorb without physically failed termed the Energy Absorption test. This testing process is complicated, consumes more time and is expensive. To reduce the time taken and the cost of testing and to simplify the testing, we have simulated the test process. The CATIA v5r20 software has been used for 3D modelling of the rim, and the Ansys workbench for Energy Absorption Test. The analysis concluded that a 3650 kg load and a 5475 kg load are the optimal conditions for the wheel.