Numerical analysis on buckling of ultrahigh strength steel wheel

With superior mechanical properties than normal strength steels, ultrahigh strength steels (UHSS) have been increasingly used in the lightweight design of vehicle wheels. The lightweight wheels made by UHSS have superior strength and crashworthiness capabilities, but are also prone to buckling instability for the thinning cross section. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective simulation methods for predicting the critical buckling load of wheels. In this paper, a novel method is proposed for the wheel buckling analysis by introducing a finite element tire model, which provides a more accurate description of the nonlinear tire-rim interface load. Compared to the simplified method of modeling interface load with a simple function form, the proposed method shows higher accuracy in predicting the wheel buckling load, with an error of less 2% than the experimental result. In addition, the effects of material mechanical properties, and initial imperfection by manufacturing factors on the wheel stiffness are investigated. The results show that wheel buckling load can be increased by decreasing the yield strength of the wheel material. A low imperfection factor achieved by controlling the wheel processing precision also helps to improve the wheel stiffness. The research provides reliable guidance for the stiffness improvement of UHSS wheels.