DESIGN OF HALF – SHAFT AND REAR WHEEL HUB ASSEMBLY OF A RACE CAR

DESIGN OF HALF – SHAFT AND REAR WHEEL HUB ASSEMBLY OF A RACE CAR

Project Objective
• It was required to design a hub assembly and half–shafts for the Formula 1 car of mass about 640 kg, maximum speed of 300 km/hr and average speed of 150km/hr.
• The assembly must give stability during rotation of the wheels. The weight and the dimension of the hub must be as small as possible because of the unsprung weight which further reduces the rotational mass. The half-shafts should not fail under stress.

Half – Shafts
• A half – shaft is an axle on a front wheel drive vehicle connecting the transmission to the driven wheels.
• The rear wheel driven Formula 1 vehicle being observed for the project uses half shafts in rear, as the differential is rigidly mounted and an independent rear suspension is used

The main parameters for design of wheel hub assembly are loading conditions , manufacturing process and material behavior. The influence of these parameters are
interactive so material fatigue behaviour will be changed depending upon the wheel hub design and loading conditions.

Design Consideration
Half shafts are designed as
– a hollow metal tube to reduce weight.
– CV joint at either end, allowing the driven wheels
to maintain constant velocity .
– Splines to transmit power between differential, CV
joints, shaft and wheel hub.
– the suspension travels during driving.
– fatigues due to high speed rotation.

DESIGN OF HALF – SHAFT AND REAR WHEEL HUB ASSEMBLY OF A RACE CAR
DESIGN OF HALF – SHAFT AND REAR WHEEL HUB ASSEMBLY OF A RACE CAR

Wheel-Hub
• A hub assembly contains the wheel bearing, and the hub to mount the wheel to vehicle.
• It is located between the brake rotors and axle.

Design Consideration
• The bolt pattern is determined by the number of bolts on the wheel hub.
• Selection of material strong enough to take the weight of the car.
• Wheel bearings in the hub depending on ID and OD of spindle coming out of hub.
• Type of lug nuts or bolts.

Conclusion
• Wheel Hub has been designed for a formula 1 car of mass about 640 kg, maximum speed of 300 km/hr and average speed of 150 km/hr.
• The designed assembly gives stability during rotation of the wheels.
• The weight and dimension of the hub is such that it reduces the rotational mass.
• The design project enabled us to understand the various forces that act on a half – shaft and wheel hub, while the Formula 1 race car is in running condition.
• The calculated parameters help us to design half – shaft and wheel hub such.
• The design project helped to better under the uses of software in real scenario.

Sachin Thorat

Sachin is a B-TECH graduate in Mechanical Engineering from a reputed Engineering college. Currently, he is working in the sheet metal industry as a designer. Additionally, he has interested in Product Design, Animation, and Project design. He also likes to write articles related to the mechanical engineering field and tries to motivate other mechanical engineering students by his innovative project ideas, design, models and videos.

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