LoudGears blog
Forged Wheel Structural Engineering
For designers and engineers at custom forged wheel brands: loads, failure, materials, testing, and how to check a design with finite-element analysis before you cut metal.
Wheel Weight and Safety Margin: Taking Mass Out Without Losing It
Brands are always asked to make the next wheel lighter. Why wheel mass matters, where a kilogram is worth most, and how to remove it without eating the margin.
Why Forged Wheels Crack at the Spoke Root, and How to Design It Out
Forged wheels that crack in service usually crack at a spoke root, fork or bridge. Two road failures, replayed blind in FEA, show why and what designers can change.
How to Read a Wheel FEA Report: A Guide for Wheel Brands
A wheel FEA report is only useful if you know what each number says about the design. This guide walks through the fields, a worked example and how to act on them.
EV Wheel Loads: What Electric Mass and Torque Mean for Wheel Design
Electric vehicles put more mass and torque through every wheel. Here is what that changes for the load target, the design check and a forged wheel brand's catalogue.
Wheel Failure Modes: What FEA Can Screen For and What It Cannot
Five ways a forged wheel fails in service, and for each, whether a static FEA design check can catch it before release or whether it needs testing and process control.
JWL, VIA and TÜV Wheel Testing vs FEA: What Each One Proves
JWL, VIA and TÜV physical tests prove that one wheel specification survived a defined test. Here is what they cover, what they leave open, and where per-design FEA fits.
Wheel Load Rating Explained: From Axle Weight to the FEA Load Case
What a wheel load rating means, how the per-wheel requirement follows from axle weight, and how that rating turns into the radial load and torque used in a design check.
Forged vs Cast vs Flow-Formed Wheels: What Changes for the Design
How a wheel is made sets its weight, strength-to-weight, fitment freedom and the material data a design check should use. How cast, flow-formed and forged wheels compare.
Radial vs Combined Load FEA for Forged Wheels: What Changes
A radial-only FEA run can make a forged wheel design look comfortable when it is not. Here is how torque and side load move the stress, and what that means for release.