A threaded-connection locking mechanism integrated into a multi-piece mining wheel for enhanced structural performance and safety

• Experimental structural testing of a off-the-road rim base.
• Quantification of localized strain and deformation of rim base.
• Validation of OTR rim base numerical model.
• FE models used to evaluate fatigue and stress of OTR wheel.
• Significant structural enhancement in the proposed design.

Multi-piece wheel components are used for off-the-road (OTR) mining wheels for the purpose of tire mounting. Incident report analyses indicate that the disengagement of the rim components in the locking region is a common cause of failure. This study proposes a threaded-connection locking mechanism to remove the conventional lock ring to enhance the engagement and improve the performance of the OTR wheel. Using validated finite element models, two numerical tests were conducted to evaluate the proposed design and the conventional design, namely, (1) a pull-out tests to evaluate the engagement capability of rim components and (2) quasi-static loading tests to assess stress levels and fatigue lives. The pull-out test results showed the proposed design was almost twice as strong as the conventional design in resisting the disengagement of the rim components and the mode of failure associated with the proposed design is less catastrophic. Under quasi-static loading conditions, the maximum effective stress was approximately 29% lower and the average stress was much lower on the front section of the rim base for the proposed design. The estimated fatigue life for the proposed design was approximately three times greater than the conventional design.