Advancements in lightweight two-wheeler rim design: a finite element analysis approach with diverse materials

This work discusses a finite element analysis of a two-wheeler rim under static loading conditions. The geometry was designed in SOLIDWORKS 2021, and the static structural analysis was performed using ANSYS R21 Materials considered for the wheel rim include Aluminium alloy (LM 13), Carbon Fiber, PEEK - 90 HMF 40% CF, and TECAPEEK CF30 black. The rim was subjected to three load cases, ranging from 1599.030 N (Load0) to 2874.330 N (Load2), simulating the bike's dead weight and the combined weight of a rider and passenger. The analysis predicted deformation, maximum stress, strain, factor of safety, and weight. Results indicated that although composite alloy wheels experienced lower stress compared to Aluminium alloy (LM 13), they exhibited higher strain and deformation. However, these high strain and deformation values are not numerically significant. For instance, the TECAPEEK wheel has a strain of 0.005 compared to 0.0004 for Al alloy (LM 13) at Load2. Despite this, all materials stayed within safety limits under maximum loads, and TECAPEEK CF30 black demonstrated a significant weight reduction and superior strength-to-weight ratio under all simulated loads. It was found that the TECAPEEK wheel has half the weight (2.641 kg) compared to the Al alloy (LM 13) wheel (5.302 kg). TECAPEEK wheel has double the strength-to-weight ratio (10.7 MPa/kg) compared to the Al alloy (LM 13) wheel (5.5 MPa) at Load2. The study concludes that TECAPEEK CF30 black can effectively replace metals in wheel rims bringing forth lightweight vehicles with improved fuel economy.