Flanged Hub Root Groove Absorbs Bending Stress
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional motor vehicle wheel flanged hubs experience fatigue and cracking due to repeated bending stresses as the wheel deflects during turns, causing the flange to oscillate and apply cyclic stress to the root portion.
Innovation Solution
A flanged hub design featuring a circumferential groove in the root portion of the tubular appendix, allowing for increased deflection and elastic absorption of bending stresses, with the groove extending obliquely radially outward and axially inward, reducing fatigue and stress concentration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the flanged hub uses a conventional solid root portion design, then the structural strength is maintained, but fatigue and cracking occur due to repeated bending stresses during vehicle turns
Solution Approach 1:
The root portion is designed with a circumferential groove that creates a thin-walled tubular structure. This thin-walled design allows the root portion to flex and deflect elastically under bending loads during vehicle turns, absorbing cyclic stresses without developing fatigue cracks, thereby resolving the contradiction between maintaining structural strength and improving durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The circumferential groove modifies the geometric parameters of the root portion by reducing its wall thickness in a controlled manner. This parameter change transforms the rigid solid structure into a more compliant thin-walled structure that can withstand repeated bending stresses, improving reliability while maintaining adequate strength through optimized geometry.
2Reliability
If the root portion is made thinner to reduce stress concentration, then fatigue resistance improves, but structural integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The circumferential groove creates a thin-walled tubular structure in the root portion that maintains structural integrity through its geometric configuration. The thin-walled design provides sufficient strength while enabling elastic deformation under load, improving fatigue resistance without compromising overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The circumferential groove introduces a curved geometric feature that distributes stress more evenly around the root portion. This curvature helps prevent stress concentration at sharp corners while maintaining the thin-walled structure's ability to flex elastically, balancing fatigue resistance with structural integrity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The groove design enhances the hub's durability by absorbing bending stresses elastically, preventing fatigue and cracking, and maintaining structural integrity during vehicle turns.
Implementation Method 1
allowing for increased deflection and elastic absorption of bending stresses
Data Source
AI summary
A rotatable flanged hub for the wheel of a motor vehicle forms, in a single piece:a cylindrical central part adapted for being coupled to a bearing unit;a flange extending in a radially outer direction starting from an end of the cylindrical part;a tubular appendix projecting from the axially outer side of the hub beyond the flange and joined to the central part by means of a root portion; anda cylindrical inner cavity defined by an inner cylindrical surface of the appendix and a radial surface of an axially outer end of the central part.A circumferential groove extends into the root portion starting from the cylindrical inner cavity in order to increase flexibility of the tubular appendix with respect to the central part of the hub.