Fiber-Reinforced Automotive Wheels-Promises and Challenges

Fiber-reinforced plastic wheels offer reduced weight and better uniformity and easier styling than metal wheels. They present new challenges in wheel design, material processing, nondestructive testing for quality control, and modifying the use pattern of automotive wheels by consumers. Present SAE specifications written for metal wheels should be modified to incorporate properties unique to fiber-reinforced plastics; this requires the cooperative efforts of potential producers and users of the new wheels.