27-10-2016, 04:24 PM
GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY.docx (Size: 1,016.7 KB / Downloads: 7)
ABSTRACT
Motivation to this problem comes from an incident while passing by school, we found a student got injured due to breaking of wheel; an idea came in our mind of redesigning the wheels of bicycle.
In order to get rid of this problem we decided to overcome the problem of breaking of wheel by designing the rim of wheels.
Solution to the problem goes like, replacing the spokes of wheels by glass fiber material and alsoredesigning of the frame of wheel. The glass fiber material used in the wheel depends upon their elasticity and way we are going to use them and also on the basis of environment.
In the first phase of the project, we understood why we need to make this happen and who will be directly affected by innovating the wheel of a bicycle. We thought of a design that is easy to manufacture which at the same time is able to accept loads and please appealingly.
In the second phase, we performed static analysis of the design we previously thought and calculated the approximate load the design can withstand taking in mind just the rim. This was done while considering the load of the cycle itself and the rider.
In the third and final phase, we did a better analysis, this time considering the tyre and the places at which the connections will be made in the wheel. A model representing the concept of the project has also been made with a similar design.
INTRODUCTION
A Shock absorbing wheel is with integral suspension, designed for better shock-absorbing performance and greater comfort.
Shock absorbing wheel give you a smoother ride. They are more comfortable than standard wheels: the carbon springs absorb tiring vibration, as well as bumps and shocks. They’re extremely strong and durable.
The problem with the ordinarily used traditional bicycle wheels is that they use dedicated shock absorbers to absorb the vibrations triggered due to improper roads/terrain. The cost of using dedicated shock absorber in case while making a cost-effective bicycle is a bit eccentric.
The shock absorbing wheel has the same application but it justifies the criteria of absorbing the shock utterly at low cost. The problems with classic bicycle wheels like cracking in the rim due to spoke holes and rusting of the wheel is eliminated by the use of glass fiber composite in the manner of leaves.
LITERATURE REVIEW
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the main components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be moved easily facilitating movement or transportation while supporting a load, or performing labor in machines.
The invention of the wheel falls in the late Neolithic, and may be seen in conjunction with other technological advances that gave rise to the early Bronze Age.
Early wheels were simple wooden disks with a hole for the axle. Because of the structure of wood, a horizontal slice of a tree trunk is not suitable, as it does not have the structural strength to support relevant stresses without failing; rounded pieces of longitudinal boards are required. The spoke wheel was invented more recently, and allowed the construction of lighter and swifter vehicles.
In the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley and Northwestern India, we find toy-cart wheels made of clay with lines which have been interpreted as spokes painted or in relief, and a symbol interpreted as a spoke wheel in the script of the seals, already in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC.
The earliest known examples of wooden spoke wheels are in the context of the Andronovo culture, dating to c. 2000 BC. Soon after this, horse cultures of the Caucasus region used horse-drawn spoke-wheel war chariots for the greater part of three centuries. They moved deep into the Greek peninsula where they joined with the existing Mediterranean peoples to give rise, eventually, to classical Greece after the breaking of Minoan dominance and consolidations led by pre-classical Sparta and Athens. Celtic chariots introduced an iron rim around the wheel in the 1st millennium BC.
The spoke wheel was in continued use without major modification until the 1870s, when wire wheels and pneumatic tires were invented.
Some startups that serve the same purpose as our model of shock absorbing wheels:
Loopwheelsare designed, engineered and made in Nottinghamshire by Jelly Products Ltd.It’s a registered design with patents pending. They have replaced wheel spokes with carbon fiber.
An independent inventor, Chat Baigh also invented a similar thing named "Shock Wheel" but used steel leaves instead of spokes.
In this project we intend to reinvent the basic bicycle wheel in order to provide comfortable riding by replacing spokes with fiberglass leaves that provides enough strength to withstand the load and is also cheaper in comparison with carbon fiber.
PROTOTYPE
The protoype of the shock absorbing wheel is made by using aluminium strips in case of glass fibre due to unavailability of the material. The connecting hub in the prototype is made of aluminium instead of stainless steel as mentioned in the analysis. The connection between the hub has been done using fastening (nut and bolt) instead of a Gorilla adhesive (Masterbond™). The connection between the strips and the rim is also done using fastening instead a Gorilla adhesive (Masterbond™). The materical of the rim is that of the standard bicycle wheel (stainless steel).
CONCLUSION
Replacing normal spoke wheels with fiberglass rims can drastically reduce the stress and vibrations transmitted to the human body while riding a vehicle on spasmodic surfaces.
This type of shock absorbing wheel helps in absorbing the shocks and reduces the shocks transmitted to the human body.
Helps indirectly in reduction of the wear and tear of the wheel with low maintenance.
The glass fiber rim is a tough material to obtain but its properties allow us to manufacture such a tool that is very useful in daily life but comes by spending a sum that not all can afford.
Due to the use of glass fiber material, corrosion of the wheel is avoided.
In all senses, shock absorbing wheels are very useful in providing a comfortable and stress free ride.