90 Degree Impact Simulation of Steel Wheel

The wheel is one of the important safety components of the vehicle. So, it is required to pass the dynamic rotating bending test, the dynamic radial fatigue test and the impact test. The 90-degree impact test represents the driving performance of a vehicle when the vehicle drives through the road pits, or drives in other harsh conditions. As for the steel wheel, there are no mandatory requirements for the impact test. In recent years, some steel wheel enterprises bring up 90-degree impact test for steel wheels in order to ensure the quality of their products. In this paper, a finite element simulation model of the steel wheel impact test bed under the case of 90-degree was established according to an enterprise’s impact test requirement. The software “ABAQUS” was used to simulate the 90-degree impact test. A wheel / tire overall model was assembled, considering the impacts of tire inflation and the tire preloading process. Then the deformation state of the rim under 90-degree impact load was analyzed to predict whether it could pass the requirements of relevant impact test successfully. The results show that the steel wheel does not meet the requirements of the impact test, which makes it necessary to study the steel wheel’s impact test and optimize the structure of the rim. This paper also provides a reference method for the impact simulation of the steel wheel.