Simulation of Inner Rim Compression Test of Aluminum Alloy Wheels

Abstract

Aluminum alloy wheels are the most commonly used wheel type for passenger cars for decades. Generally A356 alloy (including alloying elements of 7% Si and 0.3% Mg) is used and a T6 heat treatment (solutionizing and artificial aging) is applied for the wheels. The most commonly used casting method is the Low Pressure Die Casting method for the wheels. As a cast product, wheels are one of the most important safety parts of a car along with a huge visual impact on the car. Therefore a lot of proofing tests are applied on a wheel in order to ensure its reliability and to guarantee passenger safety. Inner rim compression test of aluminum alloy wheels is one of these important mechanical tests which is a quasi-static deformation test to determine the fracture and failure behavior of the wheel. In this test, wheel is fixed at its offset surface using lug nuts and a crosshead applies the load with an offset from the inner rim position applying the biggest stress to the valve hole section. This study comprises the efforts of simulation of this test. In the study, ABAQUS finite element software is used and results were compared with experimentally obtained results.