Abstract
Keywords:
wheel carrier, wheel assembly, wheel end, stress analysis.
Abstract
The ever increasing demands for higher payloads and improved vehicle fuel consumption require detailed analyses of all vehicle components; their designs, materials and manufacturing processes. Reduction of component mass and rotary inertia is an obvious approach to achieve more efficient road vehicles. In this context, the paper deals with the development of a novel, aluminium alloy wheel carrier for heavy commercial vehicles. Compared to standard, spheroidal graphite (SG) cast iron, the newly developed, conceptual aluminium allow wheel carrier, has only half the mass, achieving a mass reduction of 11 kg (per ‘wheel end’). Another important benefit in using aluminium wheel carrier is the improvement in brake cooling, both convective and conductive. Convective cooling is particularly improved for the anti coning type discs, most commonly used on front axles of heavy commercial vehicles. The paper describes design characteristics of the novel wheel carrier and presents the results of FE stress analyses. The initial findings indicate sufficient structural integrity and substantial potentials in applications of the aluminium alloy wheel carriers.