Printed rim? It is possible!
3D printing is becoming more and more popular on the market, gaining a wide range of supporters and customers. There is nothing surprising in this, because this technology allows you to create simple things, through components to specialized devices, ending with almost works of art. The fact of the growing popularity of this technology is not surprising, the more so that basic 3D printing devices have become much cheaper, and with a little design knowledge they can save us a lot of trouble and provide a bit of fun.
As a company that sells alloy wheels, we turned our attention to the design of the printed wheel, which has been put through countless tests and proven to be very durable. Young originators decided to use a rim bolted from two parts, fearing damage to the rim during tire assembly, and due to the increased strength of the rim, the rim had only small holes in its structure. The test car was a dilapidated Vectra A - a medium-sized sedan. The wheel where the inner tube had to be used was mounted on the rear axle of the vehicle. The first endurance tests, consisting in riding various hills and lows, brought a positive surprise. The authors of the film admit that they wanted to mount the rim on the front axle, but due to the shape of the brake caliper it turned out to be impossible (initially the rim was designed for the Fiat Panda). Therefore, it was finally decided to conduct a more extreme test, leaving the PLA wheel on the rear axle. This test consisted of jumping out of the driveway. To the surprise of the spectators, the rim withstood several such maneuvers and kept its shape until the end.
Of course, this type of design should be treated as a curiosity, because - as you know - the rim, apart from its primary role, also serves as a heat receiver from the brake system. This could be a big problem for the material from which the rim is made from the 3d printer. Nevertheless, this example shows just how big a future is for 3D printing technology.
Below is a link to the original article and rim description:
http://mikroprint.pl/felga-samochodowa-pla/
PS. Do not do this at home:)