On a novel method of vehicle wheel ring production

Abstract

In this paper, a novel method for vehicle steel wheel ring production has been presented. In the conventional methods of ring production, firstly, the blank changes to a cup through the deep drawing process and then other steps are applied on the cup. These steps are reverse drawing, ironing, calibration and cup fitting. The novel method is called roll forming. ABAQUS software is used to simulate the processes. To validate the procedure, a simple model of deep drawing is generated and the results are compared with the experimental observations. There is good agreement between the simulation estimates and the experimental results. The first step of disc production is modeled based on both conventional and novel methods. Simulation has been done with large deformation and rotation, transient boundary conditions and coulomb friction. At last, the results of radial, through-thickness and hoop stresses have been presented for these two approaches. The results illustrate that the residual stresses in the radial, thickness and hoop directions decrease. Therefore, the ring fatigue life is expected to increase if the roll forming method is employed.