Design and fabrication of a metal-composite hybrid wheel with a friction damping layer for enhancement of ride comfort

A friction damping layer was inserted between the composite and aluminum parts of the rim of a metal-composite hybrid wheel to enhance the damping capacity and ride comfort. A hybrid wheel was fabricated with the same shape and dimension as a 17-inch conventional aluminum wheel and several performance parameters were estimated through various tests, including quarter corner module NVH tests (booming and cavity resonance noise), and durability tests (rolling fatigue, rotary bending fatigue, impact test). From the NVH tests, a reduction of 2.7 dB in the cavity resonance noise and 1.2 dB in the booming noise was observed in the hybrid wheel. Moreover, the hybrid wheel satisfied all requirements of the durability tests. The damping ratio and stiffness of the hybrid wheel were enhanced by 325% and 27.4%, respectively, compared with those of the aluminum wheel. Consequently, the metal-composite hybrid wheel with a friction layer was proven to have improved ride comfort compared with the aluminum wheel.