Development of an automated fibre placement-based hybrid composite wheel for a solar-powered car
Journal: The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Year: 2023

Abstract Substantial range, handling and acceleration improvements in high-performance vehicles can be achieved by weight reduction. An important area for weight reduction on a car is the wheels. A novel prototype carbon fibre/epoxy wheel has been developed using a combination of automated fibre placement (AFP) and hand layup for the Sunswift 7 solar car. A three-piece wheel design that utilises each process where best suited has been analysed and optimised using the ANSYS ACP PrepPost suite, ma