ALLOY WHEEL RIM LINEAR CRASH VALIDATION WITH BENCH LEVEL TEST PROCEDURE

Crash test plays a very crucial role in determining the passenger safety along with driver safety in most modern vehicles. This has become a prominent factor for many buyers to choose a safe car. During crash test, many components tend to fail. Amongst them, the major safety critical component which hampers the drivability of a vehicle is Wheel and Tyre Assembly. With the introduction of low aspect tyres, the failure rate of these assemblies has increased. A very high importance is given to ensure these parts withstand the subjection load as it is directly related to function of vehicle. Many methods are available to test the Wheel and Tyre assembly to ensure they pass the crash criteria. We have developed a test method which can simulate the crash pattern in the rig/bench level. The method employs a mechanical actuator which can be operated at designated load application to ensure the assembly undergoes the anticipated failure. The process is repeated with different types of contact surfaces along with different tyre pressures to ensure all evaluation criteria which are observed at vehicle level are captured and translated to rig level. We have used two different types of contact surfaces which are designed and developed exclusively for this test procedure. The results of these tests are used as benchmark to evaluate the new assemblies. In conclusion, the main advantage with this test procedure is one can predict the crash failure at rig level rather than going to vehicle level test which in turn reduces the cost of vehicle building and testing. Once the failure is predicted at component level corrective actions can be initiated and design improved components can be used for vehicle level test. This will not only help in reducing the lead time as well as improve the safety of the overall vehicle.