FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[welshie]

Hopefully you guys can answer a question that has been bugging me for sometime now.

Why are F1 wheels not made out of carbon fibre? I've been on the FIA website but it just says that they need to be made out of a homogeous metalic structure, but it doesn't say why.

Please help!!

Paul

[Selcouth_Feline]

F1 wheels are, I think, made from some sort of magnesium alloy. It means that they have a low density and weight, but very high strength. The wheels are usually made from one piece of material so there shouldn't be any points of weakness

I guess carbon fibre isn't used becuase carbon fibre has to be 'layered' to give it it's strength - I'm guessing this layering might lead to a point of weakness in a given direction? Not so sure on this though...it's also really expensive, so maybe this is a factor?

[Stephen]

My first thought would be heat, the second forces. Carbonfibre can be an incredibly strong material, but i wonder how easily it could be worked into a cylindrical shape whilst maintaining it's strength in all directions - bumps in the racetrack, stress derived from the driveshaft, not forgetting braking forces!

This article will give you some idea of the forces on the tyres themselves.

[welshie]

The problem is that this rule was brought in in 1994 when the technology wasn't around to create uniform strength in CF. But now the technology is much more advanced, and i think F1 should push progress in all technical fields.

[darwin dali]

Will we ever see carbonfibre wheels in consumer cars? Probably not. Too expensive. With the way, F1 plans to go with development in the future, i.e., more applicability for consumer cars, I doubt it will ever be an issue.

[Selcouth_Feline]

Will we ever see carbonfibre wheels in consumer cars? Probably not. Too expensive.

Right now, it might be. But you never know - an innovative new process could be found in the future which will make carbon-fibre a cheap, everyday product....

I'd be surprised if F1 teams hadn't looked at changing the materials in the wheels though - I'm sure there's a definite underlying reason why magnesium is used over carbon-fibre.

[welshie]

The reason is, is that it's in the rules .

But there are companies now making extremely strong carbon rims, such as dymag. They make them for mosler, mitsi and konegggeeseggg. Altho as it's only the rim (centre is forged magnesium) it reduces a fair bit of weight, and because the rim is in CF the gyroscopic forces are greatly reduced, therefore better acceleration & braking and also better steering.

Seeing as these wheels are actually as strong as full magnesium, why not have them in F1?!! That is the question!!

[Stephen]

Interesting, I'll ask some of my contacts, but I doubt they'll even know. There must be a reason, perhaps teams are happy with the weight being in the rims, perhaps the FIA feel that safety would be put at risk (with teathers, heat, energy etc). For once, I'm stumped!

[welshie]

I can totally understand that in 1994 the technology wasn't there to make safe wheels, after all who wants a wheel to literally explode at 200mph . . . . not safe AT ALL!!

In case your wondering why i'm so interested . . . i'm designing a theoretical carbon F1 wheel for my final year dissertation in Automotive Engineering. So i therefore need to know the ins and outs of the rules. But it's turning out to be a nightmare!!

[Stephen]

Wow, ok, well I'll ask my friends in the business tomorrow and let you know what I find. I used to know the guy who designed various carbon fibre bits for McLaren, including the famous Starwars-esque pit masks. I'll see if I can't dig up some of his details and he may be able to help.

[welshie]

Cheers that would be amazing! Every little helps, hang on . . . i sound like a tesco's advert