Manufacturing of

Automobile Wheel
Rims
ME2030- Manufacturing Science-1 Seminar
 Types of rims and material used

Most wheels for railways and industrial services are manufactured either by forming a solid
block of metal by a sequence of hot forging and rolling operations or by casting them directly
from liquid into its final shape metal.

Mechanically speaking, steel castings are considered inferior to hot forging and rolling products.

Automobile wheels are made of steel or aluminium. But nowadays, aluminium wheels are
prefered over wrought steel ones due to the following reasons-

1- Excellent Brake system

2- Fuel Efficient

3- Suspension Improvement
 Various processes involved

CASTING
05 FINISHING
-Hot Chamber Die Casting - Spray painting, machining, rim
profiling, leak testing, etc

01 04 HEAT
TREATMENT
FORGING
-Quenching
-Impression Die Forging

02 03 ROLLING
-Pressing, Drilling, Milling, etc
Casting

•Pure (ingot) Aluminium(>97%) is melted in the

proper uniform temperature arc-type electric
holding furnace.
•After the molten Aluminium has attained the
desired chemical composition it is tapped from
the furnace into the sand mold.
•The sand mold usually consists of 3 molds (upper
side & bottom)
•The size and design of the casting mold should
have accurate dimensions to meet the
requirements of casting equipment and
techniques
•The mold is filled from the bottom by pressurised injection to avoid
formation of air bubbles.
•Filter sheets made up of high temperature resistance ceramics is used to
trapp additional aluminium oxide.
•After the aluminum liquid solidifies(7-10 mins), it is continuously
withdrawn from the mold to produce the semi-finished, rough wheel
shape.
Less expensive due to less expensive tooling process
Their main advantages of casting are:

1. A high styling versatility

2. Weight (equal or less than steel without styling)
3. Dimensional accuracy (mass distribution)
4. Recycling ability
5. Static and dynamic behaviour
 Flow Forming

● Flow forming technology is one of the most advanced manufacturing technologies

to enter the wheel industry.
● Flow Forming Technology involves the application of pressure to the inner barrel of
the wheel, while spinning and after it has been casted.
● This process stretches and compresses the aluminum, which increases tensile
strength. In this respect the process shares similar properties to those found in the
forging process.
● The final product is lighter, stronger, has increased elongation, and a much greater
shock resistance as well as the ability to increase load capacity over a traditional
cast wheel (of the same design).
Forging

•Forging can produce a wheel that is

stronger than an equivalent cast or
machined part.
•The forging process uses immense
amounts of compressive force to
shape the metal.
•During the process the internal grain
is deformed and rearranged to the
shape of the part.
This deformation due to compressive force improves the strength
uniformly throughout the entire structure of the wheel.

As a result you have a stronger, lighter wheel.

Forging is definitely the king of manufacturing when it comes to
wheels(Top-notch quality).

In relation to castings forged materials exhibit decidedly higher fatigue

resistance due to absence of pores and because of a fine, homogeneous
microstructure.
Processes involved are:

1. 1-step forging, coining, piercing

2. flow turning(hot spinning)
3. solution heat treatment and ageing
4. machining, drilling, deburring
5. etching and painting.
Drilling Process:

The rough aluminum alloy wheel is then

transferred to the drilling machine where the
punching of the hole in the centre is carried out
on the press and the burr around the edge of
the wheel is also trimmed out.
 HEAT TREATMENT

Processes involved :

1. Annealing

2. Quenching

3. Aging
■ Annealing :
➢ Reams are heated upto 500o C.
➢ Mixed Al crystals are formed.
➢ It increases the strengthening of metal.

■ Quenching :
➢ Submerged in 80o C water.
➢ Prevents the precipitation of alloy constituents.
➢ It increases the hardness of the metal.

■ Aging :
➢ Rims are heated upto 180o C .
➢ Required strength is achieved .
➢ Stabilize the metal and reduce the porosity.
Finishing Process:
After all the treatment, the rough aluminum alloy wheels can enter the
Machining steps to obtain the final dimensions, and steps includes:
➢ Refinishing the center hole
➢ Polishing the front side
➢ Bore machining
➢ Rim profiling
➢ Flanging
➢ Spray painting
➢ Baking, and
➢ Bush inserting
The wheels are then passed down to the automatic inspection line where
they are checked for the following.
➢Rim circumference
➢Thickness and height of flanges
➢Concentricity and diameter of the bore
➢Location of the hub ref. to rim
➢Rotundity
➢Plate thickness
The rims of the wheels of the wheels are ultrasonically inspected to
evaluate their internal quality.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, the manufacturing of automobile wheel rim are
complicated as it has to go several processes like casting,
drilling, rolling, heat treatment and finishing process before it
turn into final product.
So one must be very particular about the sizing and dimension.
But in this modern era, the existence of robot help us much in
the production of wheel as well as other factory productions.
Made by-
Chandrashekhar Dhangar- ME17BTECH11016
Darshan Meher- ME17BTECH11019
Mann Khivasara- ME17BTECH11051
Ronak Arora- ME17BTECH11041
Vikas Maurya- ES16BTECH11030

Thank you