Reinventing the Wheel – It is Possible!
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
In September 2011, smart released a new concept vehicle, the “smart forvision”, the new concept vehicle from smart, is the world’s first automobile to ride on thermoplastic wheel rims. However, they are not just a concept, their performance has already been tested for high-volume production.
The all-plastic wheel rim is over 30 percent lighter than a standard production aluminium wheel. The plastic rim weighs only six kilos and is made of the new specialty polyamide. This contributes to a noticeable reduction in the vehicle’s weight by a total of 12 kilos and translates into lower fuel consumption when the vehicle is equipped with a conventional engine. In the case of a battery-powered auto such as the “smart forvision”, the result is greater range. The complete rim (to be technically correct: the wheel) – consists of two parts: the actual supporting component and a wheel cover in the same material.. Both parts have a supporting function and withstand high loads under driving conditions. The wheel cover can be painted in any color used for the vehicle.
“Thermoset rims are already being used in racing and for short production runs”, explained Heiko Hess, who is responsible for wheel development at BASF.“ However, compared to thermoplastic rims, which can be injection molded, they are considerably more complex, more expensive to manufacture and thus unsuitable for high-volume production”.
As is often the case in a change of material, the design needs to be revisited rather than a straight swap on the original design. This allows us to break the existing rules and optimise the design of products with the new material.
