Product Design: Report on Ultra-Lightweight Automotive Structures

This report delves into the design and analysis of ultra-lightweight automotive structures, with a specific focus on wheel rims for the Eco-Shell Marathon. The project examines material qualities, with an emphasis on the use of aluminum alloys. The report covers various aspects, including design analysis, new wheel rim formations, material analysis, and manufacturing analysis, discussing processes like casting and forging. The study explores how wheel rims contribute to efficiency and sustainability, highlighting the importance of design considerations such as weight reduction, aerodynamic friction, and battery density. The report also emphasizes the role of finite element analysis in optimizing wheel geometry and the use of self-preparation alloys. This report provides insights into the methods used in manufacturing and how these methods affect the product.

Running Head: Research Skills
RESEARCH SKILLS
Student Name
Institute Name
Date
Product Design – AS 1
( Report on ultra-lightweight automotive structures)
Submission by – Gurpreet Singh
Student No. - 21401711
Submission to – Friedemann Schaber

Executive Summary
Understanding different materials and how they might be used in different procedures to
generate a final product is the goal of this project. Material qualities vary widely among
products, allowing them to perform a variety of functions. Eco-shell marathon wheel rims
formation designs and material are a primary focus of this research. The pricing ranges of the
different products should be the same, but the materials and methods used to make each product
should be compared.
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Table of Content
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................2
Project Brief.................................................................................................................................5
Introduction..................................................................................................................................5
Design Analysis...........................................................................................................................7
New Design Formation of Wheel Rim for Eco-Shell Marathon.............................................8
Material Analysis.........................................................................................................................9
Manufacturing Analysis.............................................................................................................11
Preparation of Self Alloy.......................................................................................................11
Heating Procedure.................................................................................................................12
Process of Casting..................................................................................................................12
Process of Forging.................................................................................................................12
Role of Wheel Rim in Increasing efficiency and Sustainability................................................14
Wheel Rim Helps in Increasing Proficiency.........................................................................14
Wheel Rim Helps in Increasing Sustainability......................................................................15
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................15
References..................................................................................................................................16
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Project Brief
Designing and developing materials can be quite tedious, but it is integral to an item as important
as wheel rims. It can also be such an extensive process that it fully consumes a designer’s time. It
is the goal to outline the project brief for designing wheel rims. Designing the rims of these cars
can be painstaking, time-consuming, and expensive. Designing a car’s rims is a long and
complicated process. The design process has to take into account the car’s size, cost, and safety.
The design process is complex, to say the least, but a car company needs to make sure that it can
afford to manufacture a vehicle for its target audience. This means that a company has to know
the size of the target market and how much it can cost. It also means that safety has to come first
for customers to feel safe when driving. The decision of what type of material to use is made at
the beginning of the process, followed by detailing, assembly, and finally painting. However,
there are now new developments in technology that make this process more efficient.
Introduction
The primary goal of the design team is to reduce the number of modifications, which improves
the profitability of the company. In the early stages of a project and while creating the initial
iterations, this is especially important because a lack of expertise makes it difficult to determine
the most basic building construction qualities. To aid the design team in creating a new sports
layout, an algorithm has been proposed. It makes it possible to examine the influence of various
design elements and external aspects on the final result of a sporting event. This can be reduced
by reducing the weight of the vehicle. Reduced cross-sectional area also reduces aerodynamic
friction. The battery density decreases as the weight decreases. As a first step in creating the
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Shell Eco-Marathon, this project will design and construct the electrical and mechanical
components of an ancient electric prototype idea vehicle that is lighter weight and
environmentally benign while also meeting formal market regulations. Mechanical Parts may
include:
 Wheel Rims
 Wheel Hubs
 Types
 Axels
The objective of this work is to design wheel rims.
Figure 1: Some Shell Eco-Marathon Designs
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The team selected to construct a vehicle in the category of Prototype using a generator and
batteries. In order to produce the finest sporting outcome, the crew has a wide range of expertise
in several aspects of race car design. A lack of sufficient practise may necessitate the
development of new knowledge or the creation of new experiments.
Design Analysis
It was the goal of this project to create a carbon fibre racing wheel rim of 13 inches in diameter
by 6 inches in thickness, which would be used on an Eco-shell marathon car. From the wide
spectrum of Caterhams that accommodate a 13"x6" wheel rim, the worst-case design
characteristics were selected to assure maximum durability. The rim of the wheel was divided
into two sections by a two-piece split. As a surface model, Catia V5 was utilised to create the
wheel. Genesis, a composite optimisation software, was then used to import the mesh into the
surface. The rim was subjected to a Lightweight Wheelcornering force, torque, centripetal force,
and tyre pressure determined from the design parameters for rim optimization in Genesis. It was
based on carbon fibre characteristics, the number of ply layups, and the ply orientation. Finite
element analysis results were used to help influence the design of the wheel geometry. As you
can see in the photographs to the right, the wheel design has evolved from version 1 to version 6.
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New Design Formation of Wheel Rim for Eco-Shell Marathon
While designing wheel rims, the following specifications must be kept in mind;
1. All kinds of tyres and wheels are fine.
2. Wheel rims can be made of any material, but they must fit the chosen tyres in order to
meet safety regulations.
3. Bicycle wheels aren't usually built to withstand large lateral forces, like those found in
SEM vehicles when they're moving at any speed.
4. Wheel axels must not be constructed for cantilever loads, such as those found in
wheelchairs; rather, the load must be evenly distributed on both sides, as is the case with
bicycles. Two different types of axels will be used: a front axle and a rear axle. Four
laser-cut and bent components were welded together to make the front axle. Aluminium
was chosen for this investigation because to its exceptional strength, which is equivalent
to that of regular steel yet is significantly lighter. Apart from its superior weldability, this
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material also has another advantage. Apart from supporting the rear wheel, the rear axle
has various functions. Because only the back wheel is operated, this axle houses the
engine and transmission. Due to the rear axle's compact size, electronic and fuel systems
are put on it.
5. The front hubs will be attached to the bevelled axle for optimum wheel deflection. The
axle was integrated into the vehicle's self-sustaining structure. Aside from these
improvements, the new front axle has a more than half smaller displacement at the
attachment point of the front hubs compared to the previous one.
6. There must be a clear separation between the driver and the vehicle's chassis and wheels.
7. Wheels must not come into contact with other parts of the vehicle, such as cables, hoses,
electrical housings, and energy components, during installation.
8. Installations must be designed to prevent entanglement with the rotating wheel, which
could lead to a crash.
Material Analysis
There has been an increase in the use of aluminium alloys in the manufacturing industry. Copper
and other metals are frequently employed in the production of aluminium alloys. Iron and trace
amounts of chromium, titanium, zircon, and bismuth or bismuth or bismuth or bismuth are also
included. The wheel rim is the most prevalent sort of vehicle component. These products are
made using both castings and forgings. Forged components were more expensive and had a
lesser mechanical strength than alloy-based wheel rims. Alloy-based aluminium wheels offer a
better mechanical strength, are lighter, and can be fixed more easily in comparison to steel-based
forged wheels.
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Three-dimensional solidification and fluid flow software, ProCAST, is used to simulate molten
metal flow and solidification phenomena in a variety of casting processes, including gravity, low
pressure, and high-pressure die castings. With this software, casting results may be visualised
and anticipated. Before you start sandcasting or diecasting models, run simulations in ProCAST
to see how the mould fills and solidifies. For this reason, we prefer die casting to sand casting.
The experiment's cast and mould design is transformed into a 3D model and imported into
ProCAST, which simulates the casting process. Mold filling of alloy steel casting and
solidification simulations are part of the current research.
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AA6061-T6 from the aluminium alloy six xx series has emerged as a possible material for this
design because of its combination of desirable qualities, such as high strength to weight ratio,
outstanding flexibility, great corrosion resistance, and relatively low cost. There are numerous
applications for this material, including the fabrication of aircraft wing and fuselage components,
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yacht and shipbuilding parts and wheel spacers. Friction stir welding is not recommended for
joining AA6061-T6 because the welded connections' mechanical characteristics degrade
significantly compared to the base material. Pinching of dislocations is prevented or hindered by
the incorporation of various nano- and micro-sized filler particles.
Dynamic recrystallization is also brought about. A reinforced weld junction has a more refined
grain structure, greater tensile strength, hardness, and wear resistance than an unreinforced weld
joint. As a result, friction stir welded joints made from AA 6061-T6 with reinforcing particles (of
different sizes) have significantly improved mechanical qualities. In spite of this, the introduction
of artificial granules or particle reinforcements during FSW has gained considerable attention
over the years. TiO2 is one of the more expensive and more difficult to come by of these
nanoparticles. SiC and Gr have been chosen over more expensive ceramic materials as a result.
Wheel rim design has evolved as a result of recent technological breakthroughs. In terms of
aerodynamics and weight, the new designs have a significant advantage over their predecessors.
As a result of engineers' efforts to improve the fuel efficiency of automobiles.
Manufacturing Analysis
Preparation of Self Alloy
Preparation of self alloy is only a few of the procedures in the production of aluminium wheel
rings are low-pressure casting, melting the metal, quality checking, topping, and heat treatment.
The most recent development in this field is self-preparation alloy. Smelting towers are used to
smelt aluminium ingots with low iron content into an alloy, which can then be turned into new
aluminium products. In order to add the alloying agents, such as silicon and magnesium, to the
molten metal, porous plugs are used in the reverberatory furnace. After the alloy has been tested,
wet ladles of the alloy are transferred to the low-pressure casting equipment.
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Heating Procedure
Heating procedure consist of a three-stage heat treatment process follows: solubilization,
tempering, and ageing (or curing). The rims can either be treated in continuous roller facilities or
on a semi-continuous line, where they are held in steel containers and carried directly on furnace
rollers, minimising energy consumption and heating time as well as logistics for loading and
unloading.
Process of Casting
Process of wheel casting can be made in a variety of methods, such as, die casting at low
pressure, in a gravity-resistant mould the casting is done (less used) and Squeeze casting method.
In addition die-casting under counter-force, forging and casting (Cobapress) and thixocasting is
also used in this process.
Process of Forging
Forged aluminium wheels are one-of-a-kind sculptures fashioned from a single piece of metal
that have been forged, spun, and machined. The stylized disc can be designed in a manner
similar to that of cast wheels using the forging procedure.
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Figure 6: Manufacturing Analysis.
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