Hub's Basic Knowledge

The earliest automobile hub evolved from the carriage, and the dense spokes were the main characteristics of the hub in this period. But at that time, the wheel hub was just the part that was put on the outer layer of the axle. It was used together with the rim and spokes. Then with the development of industry and the progress of casting technology, hub, spoke and rim gradually become a whole, and hub has gradually become the name of this whole in everyone's eyes.

Then, with the development of tire technology, we are very familiar with the appearance of steel (iron) hub. The main advantages of steel hub are simple manufacturing process, relatively low cost, and strong ability to resist metal fatigue, which can be said to be cheap and strong. But the disadvantages of the steel hub are more obvious, that is, the appearance is ugly and almost no shape, and because of the heavy weight, the inertia resistance is also large, the heat dissipation is relatively poor, and it is easier to rust.

*Steel Wheel Hub

The middle circle is called wheel hub cover, which can be used for beauty while rust prevention

Compared with steel hub, alloy hub just makes up for some shortcomings of steel hub. The alloy wheel hub originated in the 1930s, when the German combined steel spokes with aluminum rolling rims on the wheel loading car, which laid the foundation for the development of aluminum alloy wheels. After World War II, alloy hub began to be used in ordinary cars.

First, take the aluminum alloy wheel hub as an example. Its advantages can be classified into three parts. First, it is energy-saving. The aluminum alloy wheel hub is light in weight, high in manufacturing accuracy, small in deformation when rotating at high speed, and small in inertia resistance, which is conducive to improving the straight-line driving performance of the car, reducing the rolling resistance of the tire, and thus reducing the fuel consumption. Secondly, safety. The thermal conductivity of aluminum alloy is three times of that of steel, and the heat dissipation effect is very good, which enhances the braking performance and improves the service life of tires and brake discs.

*Alloy Wheel Hub

The shock absorption performance of aluminum alloy is much better than that of steel wheel hub. If the shock absorption is good, the driving stability and comfort will be improved. However, compared with the steel hub, although the mechanical strength of the aluminum alloy hub is higher than that of the steel hub, the stiffness is lower. In other words, it is more brittle than the steel hub, and the damage is not easy to repair.

In general, the alloy wheels of the original cars in the market are mainly made of aluminum alloy. Of course, many modified wheels will choose magnesium, titanium and other elements as basic materials in order to meet certain special requirements and improve the vision. These things are usually equipped with high-end cars or sports cars. These black technology high-tech hubs have the same characteristics, super light, super high strength, super fragile.

*Carbon Fiber Hub

After the alloy hub, the carbon fiber hub appears. The body made of carbon fiber is lighter and stronger, but the hub is also more fragile. The carbon fiber hub is more delicate than the alloy hub. The carbon fiber hub is not even allowed to have a crack, not even a scratch, because once there is a scratch on this material, it basically means that the hub will be scrapped and cannot be repaired.