Tubular Wheel Heat Shield Reinforcement Against Thermal Deflection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat shields for vehicle wheels, particularly those with carbon disc brakes, are prone to deformation and deflection under high temperature and stress, leading to potential damage and wheel abrasion due to insufficient stiffness and rigidity.
Innovation Solution
A heat shield assembly featuring a tubular design with integrated circumferential ridges and embedded wires to enhance stiffness and strength, utilizing grooves or channels for wire reinforcement without significantly increasing weight or size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If heat shields are made of thin metal panels to minimize weight, then weight is reduced, but stiffness and rigidity are insufficient causing deformation and deflection under high temperature and stress
Solution Approach 1:
The heat shield panel incorporates ridges with grooves or channels at specific locations to provide localized reinforcement. These ridges create stiffening structures that increase rigidity in critical areas without requiring the entire panel to be thicker, thus maintaining lightweight properties while addressing deformation issues at specific stress points.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat shield combines thin metal panel material with ridge structures that create a composite construction. The ridges form a framework that integrates with the panel material to produce a composite structure with enhanced stiffness-to-weight ratio, allowing the shield to resist deformation under thermal and mechanical loads while keeping overall weight low.
2Strength
If heat shields are made robust to resist deformation, then strength is improved, but weight and size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heat shield panel is segmented into ridged sections with grooves or channels, creating a divided structure that provides reinforcement where needed. This segmentation allows the shield to achieve robustness through strategic structural division rather than uniform thickening, reducing unnecessary material usage and weight while maintaining strength in critical areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The heat shield incorporates three-dimensional ridge structures with grooves or channels that add vertical dimensionality to the otherwise flat panel. This dimensional change creates stiffening effects and structural complexity that enhance robustness without proportionally increasing weight, as the ridges provide mechanical strength through their geometric configuration rather than merely through material volume.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If heat shields are spaced closer to the wheel to improve heat protection, then heat shield effectiveness is improved, but the risk of contact and wheel abrasion increases under thermal expansion and stress
Solution Approach 1:
The ridges with grooves or channels in the heat shield panel create a cushioning effect that accommodates thermal expansion and stress-induced deformations. The grooves provide clearance spaces that allow the panel to expand and flex without making contact with the wheel, preventing abrasion while maintaining effective heat protection through the ridged structure's proximity to the wheel.
Solution Approach 2:
The ridged structure with grooves or channels changes the physical parameters of the heat shield panel, creating a structure with varying thickness and flexibility characteristics. This parameter change allows the shield to adapt to thermal and mechanical conditions, maintaining close proximity for heat protection while the flexible ridged sections prevent contact with the wheel under expansion conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A heat shield assembly for a vehicle wheel is provided. The heat shield assembly includes either a single tubular heat shield panel or a plurality of heat sectional panel sections arranged to be connected to one another to form a tubular heat shield panel. Each of the plurality of heat sectional panel sections have an inner diameter surface and an outer diameter surface, the outer diameter surface arranged to be positioned, in use, adjacent to and spaced apart from an inner diameter surface of a wheel. Each panel section is provided with one or more grooves extending in the circumferential direction. One or more wires are provided in one or more of the grooves.