Research on the Influence of Wheel Hub Parameters on Natural Frequency

Abstract

As a critical component for load bearing and power transmission, the wheel hub strongly affects the vibration safety and structural reliability of an automobile. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) wheel hub model was established in NX and imported into ANSYS Workbench for prestressed modal analysis. Four representative geometric parameters, namely pitch circle diameter (PCD), offset, spoke thickness, and nominal rim diameter, were selected to investigate their influence on the dominant natural frequency under vehicle weight, tire pressure, and cylindrical support conditions. The results show that the sixth-order mode is the dominant mode of the wheel hub, with a natural frequency of 955.978 Hz for the baseline model. When the PCD increases from 42 mm to 62 mm, the natural frequency rises from 947.894 Hz to 957.799 Hz, while increasing the spoke thickness from 28.87 mm to 48.87 mm raises the frequency from 773.844 Hz to 1019.29 Hz. In contrast, increasing the offset from -15.05 mm to 15.05 mm reduces the frequency from 1268.14 Hz to 634.715 Hz, and increasing the nominal rim diameter from 158.7 mm to 178.7 mm decreases the frequency from 1052.01 Hz to 841.117 Hz. These findings indicate that spoke thickness and offset are especially influential parameters for tuning the modal characteristics of wheel hubs. This study provides a useful reference for resonance-safe wheel hub design and future lightweight structural optimization.