Evaluation of fatigue life of aluminium alloy wheels under bending loads

This paper presents the details of S–N curve for aluminium alloy (Al) A356.2‐T6 and fatigue life of alloy wheels under bending load of cornering fatigue test (CFT). Development of S–N curve has been carried out by conducting rotary bending fatigue test at different stress levels as per Standards IS 5075. The rotary bending fatigue test has been performed under constant amplitude fatigue loading. The CFT of the wheel in normal driving mode has been carried out as per the procedure given in Japanese Industrial Standard Disc Wheels (JIS D_4103). It has been observed from the test that the cracks are initiated at the spoke and hub joining area closer to spanner hole on the front face of the wheel. Fatigue life of the alloy wheel has been predicted by finite element analysis (FEA), simulating the realistic test conditions. From finite element analysis, it has been observed that the maximum stress occurs at the mounting face of the wheel. Further, it has been observed that there is significant difference between the computed fatigue life and experimental value. Parametric study has been carried out for reliable fatigue life estimation and proposed an appropriate safety factor for fatigue life estimation under rotary bending test.