Flow-Formed Wheel Disc Thickness Zoning for Lighter Vented Wheels
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for producing vehicle wheels by flow-forming struggle to achieve material savings and weight reduction without additional working steps, which can lengthen the manufacturing process and complicate the production of uniformly balanced wheels.
Innovation Solution
The method involves generating zones with material reductions and accumulations on the wheel disc form during the flow-forming process using a spinning mandrel with local elevations and depressions, allowing for material redistribution and optimization of material thickness, enabling the creation of non-uniform wheel discs that can accommodate ventilation holes and balance weight imbalances without additional machining steps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If traditional flow-forming produces uniformly thick wheel discs, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but material savings and weight reduction are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating zones with different material thicknesses in specific regions of the wheel disc. Material reductions are implemented in non-critical areas while maintaining uniform thickness in load-bearing regions, achieving material savings without compromising structural integrity. This is accomplished through controlled material redistribution during flow-forming rather than uniform thinning across the entire disc.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs preliminary action by pre-distributing material in the preform before flow-forming to anticipate the final geometry requirements. The preform is shaped with predetermined material concentrations that will result in the desired non-uniform thickness distribution after forming, eliminating the need for subsequent material removal operations and reducing manufacturing steps.
2Reliability
If additional machining steps are added to create ventilation holes and balance weights, then wheel performance is improved, but manufacturing time and process complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple manufacturing operations into the single flow-forming process. Ventilation holes, balance weight zones, and the wheel disc geometry are all created simultaneously during flow-forming through integrated tooling and process control, eliminating sequential machining steps and reducing manufacturing cycle time while maintaining performance requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-forming ventilation hole locations and balance weight zones during the flow-forming process itself. The material is distributed and shaped in advance to create these features before final cooling and ejection, eliminating the need for separate punching, drilling, or machining operations that would extend manufacturing time.
3Weight of moving object
If material is removed to create ventilation holes, then weight reduction is achieved, but structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by strategically locating material reductions and ventilation holes in regions that do not compromise the wheel disc's load-bearing capacity. The flow-forming process creates optimized thickness distributions that maintain sufficient material in critical stress areas while removing material from non-critical regions, achieving weight reduction with preserved structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material principles by creating a non-uniform thickness distribution that functions as a composite structure with varying material properties across different zones. Thinner sections provide weight reduction while thicker sections maintain strength, creating an optimized composite-like structure from a single material through controlled geometric variation.
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
This approach results in material savings, weight reduction, and improved structural reinforcement, enhancing the fatigue strength and balance of vehicle wheels while simplifying the manufacturing process by integrating material optimizations directly into the flow-forming process.
Implementation Method 1
flow-forming or metal spinning to create a wheel disc form
Implementation Method 2
material redistribution and optimization of material thickness
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~6
Figure 4A~9
AI summary
The invention relates to a vehicle wheel having a wheel disc 10 produced on a flow-forming machine by flow-forming of a preferably metallic preform against a spinning mandrel, attachment flange 12, a flow-formed disc transition surface 33 equipped with ventilation holes, and a disc margin 14 for the connection of the wheel disc to a wheel rim part. The invention also relates to the method for producing the wheel disc and to a spinning mandrel for a suitable flow-forming machine. To improve the manufacture of vehicle wheels with wheel discs produced by flow-forming, and in the process to make it possible to realize a reduction in weight of the finished vehicle wheel without the need for additional working steps which lengthen the manufacture of the wheel disc, in each case at least one zone 20 with material accumulation and/or zone 15 with material reduction generated during the flow forming is formed on the inner side 16 or the outer side of the flow-formed transition surface between adjacent ventilation holes and/or between the ventilation holes at the disc margin and/or at the disc margin in an axial elongation of each ventilation hole.