Titanium motorcycle wheels
Titanium motorcycle wheels
(OP)
Currently aftermarket motorcycle wheels are usually made of either forged aluminum, forged magnesium or carbon fibre. Weight savings increase in that order.
I'm curious if there are any technical reasons why titanium wheels are not offered anywhere. Saving rotational mass is especially beneficial on a motorcycle. Certain titanium alloys offer the highest strength to density ratio of all metals. A titanium wheel should therefore be lighter than the above mentioned forged Al and Mg wheels (maybe not as light as carbon fibre), if taking advantage of its strength in the design.
Certainly, they would be prohibitively expensive, but there are usally people who are willing to pay a premium just to be different.
Which manufacturing process and which alloys would lend themselves for titanium wheels, and which difficulties could one expect during manufacturing?
Thank you
I'm curious if there are any technical reasons why titanium wheels are not offered anywhere. Saving rotational mass is especially beneficial on a motorcycle. Certain titanium alloys offer the highest strength to density ratio of all metals. A titanium wheel should therefore be lighter than the above mentioned forged Al and Mg wheels (maybe not as light as carbon fibre), if taking advantage of its strength in the design.
Certainly, they would be prohibitively expensive, but there are usally people who are willing to pay a premium just to be different.
Which manufacturing process and which alloys would lend themselves for titanium wheels, and which difficulties could one expect during manufacturing?
Thank you





RE: Titanium motorcycle wheels
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Titanium motorcycle wheels
RE: Titanium motorcycle wheels
Correct me if I'm wrong but most grades of titanium should be both both stronger and stiffer than forged 2014-T6 (Sut of about 70ksi and Modulus of Elasticity of about 10.5 ksi)whereas titanium (6-4 for example) has an Sut of 175 ksi and Modulus of Elasticity of about 16 ksi. With that said, Ti is about 60% heavier so you have to factor that into the equation but from a strength/stiffness point I don't see how the two match up. Feel free to correct me if I'm missing something.
RE: Titanium motorcycle wheels
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Titanium motorcycle wheels