Applications/Sports and Leisure

Winner: NRG Wheels Ltd (UK)
Partners: Huntsman Advanced Materials GmbH, Cristex (UK) and The University of Bristol Ltd. (UK)

The wheels are made of a forged magnesium/aluminium alloy hub. Specially-coated titanium fasteners, working within specially-bonded bushes, fasten the hub to an epoxy carbon fibre rim. The carbon rim is made through a special injection process.

Carbon/ light alloy wheels reduce the gyroscope effect and moment of inertia of the wheel, resulting in improved acceleration and braking with reduced stopping distance. Lighter, sharper steering gives better feel and more responsive handling.
Tyre temperatures and pressures are more stable. Even compared with magnesium wheels, weight reductions were obvious right from the start, with a minimum of 40% less weight per wheel.
Fuel consumption (3 to 8%) and engine CO2 are reduced. Tests with Porsche showed the power saving on a 300 bhp car to be about 43 bhp associated with fuel savings of about 10%.

Carbon wheels not only have an impact resistance more than twice that of metal wheels, but they also respond well to deformation, recovering their round shape. Cracks do not propagate as they would with metal, which would retain its bent shape and lose air pressure.

The overall market potential for carbon composite wheels is very large, but specific. The wheels are suited to all higher-value and high-performance vehicles and buses where stop-start motion is normal. Use in military applications for improved vehicule performances and blast/ballistic response is obvious.

The reduced moment of inertia makes the wheel suitable for delivery vehicles.
The reduced moment of inertia makes the wheel suitable for delivery vehicles and buses where stop-start motion is normal. Use in military applications for buses where stop-start motion is normal. Use in military applications for improved vehicle performance and blast/ballistic response is obvious.

Other finalists in the Sports and Leisure category
_________________________________________________________

• The first Callaway Golf driver featuring an aft body made with a carbon-fibre reinforced moulding compound and a compression moulding process, presented by Callaway Golf Company (USA).

•  A Carbon fibre exercise bike presented by Lamiflex-Ciclotte (Italy) with its partners Studio-2 (Italy), Huntsman Advanced Materials GmbH (Switzerland), Luca SCheippati (Italy) and TAIT srl (Italy).