Influence study of connecting methods on the 90° impact performance of magnesium/aluminium assembled wheel

Multimaterial light alloy assembled wheels are an effective lightweight solution, but selecting the connection method to simultaneously ensure impact safety and lightweight level is a challenge. This study reveals the influence mechanism of different connection methods and provides theoretical guidance for connector selection. Firstly, a 90° impact finite element analysis (FEA) model of a bolted magnesium/aluminium (Mg/Al) alloy assembled wheel was established, and a physical experiment was conducted to verify its effectiveness. Subsequently, the FEA models of the tensile and shearing tests of the bonded joints were constructed, and corresponding experiments were performed to verify their accuracy. Then, the design schemes of bonded, riveted and bonded riveted Mg/Al assembled wheels are proposed, and 90° impact failure simulations were conducted for these wheels. Results showed that the structural adhesive of the bonded assembled wheel completely failed, and the rivets near the impacting position of the riveted assembled wheel fractured. By contrast, the rivets of the bonded riveted assembled wheel did not fracture, and only one-fifth of the structural adhesive along the circumference failed, indicating that the bonded riveted connection simultaneously reduced the fracture degrees of the rivets and adhesive for the assembled wheel. Finally, comparative analysis was performed between the bonded riveted and bolted assembled wheels. The results further demonstrated that the impact safety of assembled wheels under these two connections were comparable, but the lightweight level and electrochemical corrosion of the bonded riveted connection were superior to those of the bolted connection.