Cast Aluminum Wheels for Trucks and Buses — Testing and Evaluation

The paper explains the most important criteria for the design of cast aluminum wheels on examples of recently developed European wheels. The basic differences in material behavior between steel and aluminum, such as fatigue strength, cyclic stress-strain properties and crack behavior are treated. The optimization of the wheel design is based on the fatigue strength of individual wheel sections which is determined through special test fixtures. The final proofout test for adequate fatigue life of the total wheel is established through a programmed test carried out in a new biaxial wheel test machine whereby the load program for testing European wheels represents European service conditions.