Motorbike rider

A new software program developed in Germany can help manufacturers analyse their motorcycle wheel designs. The new program was developed by researchers at the German outfit Stress & Strength working with scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability in Darmstadt.

The new software is actually an enhancement to a previous version of Stress & Strength’s WheelStrength software. The program was originally developed to simulate mechanical stress in car, truck and rail vehicle wheels, and has been on the market for four years.

Working in cooperation with the motorbike manufacturer Aprilia and the Italian wheel developer OZ, the researchers extended the capabilities of the software to include motorbike wheels.

“The programs available until now could only check a few supposedly crucial criteria,” says Oliver Ehl, the Managing Director of Stress & Strength. “This means that some really important areas may have been overlooked while others were unnecessarily overrated. Consequently, manufacturers have failed to tap the full potential of lightweight elements, for instance.”