The eVOLVE Hybrid Wheel made of metal and plastic, designed for the 2012 MYFord Focus SE, has shown an increase of 1.1 MPG highway in third-party tests, compared to the car's standard production wheel. (Source: Lacks Wheel Trim Systems)
I also think the F150 was shown with an aerodynamic wheel that also incorporated shutters to close up the slots at high speeds and open for slow speeds (to provide adequete brake cooling).
An improvement of 1.1 mpg is huge. Automotive engineers spend months and months just trying to find a few tenths of a mile-per-gallon. If these third party tests are right and if automakers find this to be economically feasible for production, then this is a gigantic step forward.
I'm really surprised, I would have guessed it was all about the rotating mass. I never would have thought that the drag from the wheel would make such a difference.
I think this wheel is a small step in the right direction. What would make a bigger impact is using this technology to make automobile bodies and large internal components,aka seats. lighter. The wheel weight reduction is too small an increment of automobile weight.
I think this wheel is a small step in the right direction. What would make a bigger impact is using this technology to make automobile bodies and large internal components,aka seats. lighter. The wheel weight reduction is too small an increment of automobile weight.
Me too. I would never think that. In my opinion if weight is the problem, there are other items thay can make lighter, like frame, seats, booth hoods, etc....
If I read the article correctly, the metal/plastic wheel is about 4 pounds less than the standard wheel. For this weight reduction, is there a cost savings or is the main benefit the MPG increase?
Unsprung mass is a big deal for vehicle performance although not necessarily fuel economy. Reduced rotating inertia probably has an impact on city driving more than taking weight out of the seat frames. I wonder how much the plastic is about appearance rather than aerodynamics. Wheels take a beating, and I know they will look pretty bad by the time I buy a 2014 focus in the year 2025.
The three-piece modular wheel is even lighter. A 15" dia 10" wide Jongbloed wheel from the mid- '70s weighed 14 lbs. It used two spun aluminum wheel halfs and a forged magnesium center. This was a racing wheel so it was plenty strong but it was difficult to maintain-- dogs would come from adjacent counties to pee on mag wheels!
As far as aerodynamics are concerned, Bonneville racers have used "Moon Discs" since the '50s to improve the rotating and wind resistance of their wheels. These are spun aluminum discs that cover the center of a standard steel wheel. They are still used in land speed racing. They do not allow brake cooling air circulation, however.
Instead of such a complex wheel structure as this new wheel design, why not just mould that design with a carbon fiber reinforced polymer?
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
The 100-percent solar-powered Solar Impulse plane flies on a piloted, cross-country flight this summer over the US as a prelude to the longer, round-the-world flight by its successor aircraft planned for 2015.
GE Aviation expects to chop off about 25 percent of the total 3D printing time of metallic production components for its LEAP Turbofan engine, using in-process inspection. That's pretty amazing, considering how slow additive manufacturing (AM) build times usually are.
A $1,500, hand-operated, bench-model, plastic injection machine crowdsource-funded via Kickstarter can be used to mold small, quality, plastic parts inexpensively, on demand.
The federal government is launching competitions to kickstart three more manufacturing innovation institutes, including one focused on Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing Innovation.
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