Fabricating a Lightweight Road Wheel (LwRW) from Ultra-High Strength Flash Processed Stainless Steel

Flash Steelworks proposes to develop a 50 pound LwRW for the Marine Corps’ AAV-FOV based on a novel enclosed spoke and truss design fabricated from ultra-high strength Flash Processed 1600MPa stainless steel that is fused to a 1” rubber ring with improved durability. The proposed LwRW will meet the Marine Corp’s operational and maintenance requirements while also reducing lifecycle costs compared to the current wheel. Because the LwRW will be fabricated from stainless steel, the need to apply corrosion resistant paint will be greatly reduced or eliminated. In addition, the corrosion resistant LwRW will be able to travel a much greater distance before being discarded compared to the 2000 mile lifetime for the current ASTM 646 steel wheel. In addition, the use of a more durable rubber will enable the wheel to travel 2000 miles before refurbishments. Finally, the acquisition cost of the proposed LwRW will be competitive with the current wheel, while the lifecycle costs of the proposed LwRW will be significantly cheaper.