Improvement of Surface Quality and Development of Composite Wheel for Passenger Cars Manufactured by RTM

RTM공법을 이용한 승용차용 복합재료 휠의 표면정도 향상 및 개발

Since passenger cars require five wheels including a spare, the weight reduction of wheels without sacrificing performance is important. Recently, the structured components of cars made of steel are replaced by composites. plastics and other nonmetallic materials such as aluminum and magnesium for weight reduction. From these new tried materials are most promising due to their high specific stiffness and specific strength. The composites manufactured by resin transfer molding (RTM) process has not only low cost for the manufacturing but also reduces the lead time and development because the molds for RTM is easy to manufacture. In this work, composite wheels for passenger cars were designed and manufactured by RTM process. Since surface quality of wheels is important for passenger cars, the optimal stacking sequence for composite wheels was selected considering surface quality and mechanical properties. Also, the manufacturing method for the composite mold was depicted.