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Carbon Fiber Wheel Rim

1

Can carbon fiber replace aluminum in a rim star — lighter, yet more resilient?

Client

Bachelor Thesis

Date

January 2025

Practecies

Structural Analysis, Material Engineering

Tools

Autodesk Inventor, Solid Edge, Ansys Mechanical

Context

Current research and development in carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) for automotive applications is strongly focused on weight reduction and performance optimization. CFRP wheels offer significant advantages over currently used metal wheels due to their lower unsprung mass, which positively affects a vehicle's driving dynamics and efficiency through reduced drivetrain energy consumption.

Approach

The results of the simulation are selected safety factors, deformations, reference and principal stresses and specific failure criteria for fiber composites. Depending on the simulation case, associations between the mechanical properties of the materials, the fiber orientation and the component thickness in relation to the component strength are investigated.

Multiple Simulation Angles

The simulation included eight different simulation angles to investigate correlation between geometric and material properties.

Answers

- 59,8 % weight

The analysis shows a theoretical weight reduction of 59,8 % , compared the the Al 6061 competitor, for the wheel rim star.

Fiber Angle

Deflections and stresses correlate to fiber orientations. Especially the top and bottom layers can be adapted to optimise for a specific spoke design.

Feasability

FEM simulations with various matrix-fiber combinations demonstrate that the structural durability of the CFRP component is on par with conventional aluminum wheels.

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