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Kühl Wheels utilize a system of offset, sheet steel spokes to form the structure between hub and rim. This allows a wheel with adequate strength to sustain radial, cornering and torque loads while providing weight as well as styling advantages. Initial development of welded prototype wheels is described, including laboratory and field test results. The development of a single piece, steel, stamped wheel center based on the early prototypes is described. Critical aspects of the design are shown and geometric requirements are discussed. Wheel model analyses carried out by finite element methods are presented. Development of tooling and ultimately stamped prototypes is discussed and shown. Finally, test results from wheels assembled from the stamped wheel centers are presented and compared with the analytical predictions.

The Mechanical Diode (MD) one way clutch is a positive locking mechanism. During lock up, steel struts are interposed between locking features on the facing surfaces of two disks. The movement of struts into a lock position as a shaft motion reversal is attempted is of interest in assessing the reliability of the one-way clutch. This paper presents the results of a study which predicts strut movement into lock position by examining the forces on the strut at each stage of the locking action and the response of the strut mass and surrounding fluid to these forces. Locking action is found to occur in a few microseconds with typical component sizes and lubricants.

Mechanical Diode® type one way clutches are positive locking, planar ratchet type one way devices. They are designed for exceptionally high lock up torque along with virtually wear-free overrunning operation. This paper presents a method of predicting Mechanical Diode (MD) ultimate strength. MD strength is dependent upon the reaction element within the clutch called the strut. Lockup forces are supported by the strut. By calculating the column buckling strength of the struts, a predictive measure for determining clutch load carrying capacity is outlined. The method of computing buckling strength is shown and a sample calculation for an MD design is included. Data on overload failure due to strut buckling is presented and compared with the calculated failure torque for a typical MD. The experimental data includes not only the maximum torque at failure, but also provides traces showing the elastic and plastic response regions of the strut in compression.

This paper describes the design development of a new steel wheel which utilizes spokes to provide either weight or strength benefits over a conventional dish center wheel. The spokes are designed to be deep along the axis of the wheel and thin in the plan view of the wheel to provide improved strength and fatigue resistance. This unique patented approach uses spoke pairs to help achieve those advantages. Wheel designs utilizing this type of spoke are analyzed using classical methods as well as the finite element method. Results of the traditional analyses are presented in the form of maximum apparent stress calculations for wheels of various sizes. Corresponding finite element results are presented in the form of stress distributions plotted on solid model representations of wheels with magnitudes and locations of stresses shown.