Why designing high speed wheels is so complicated
Posted by Josh Taylor / November 25, 2017
There are a number of engineering challenges in designing a super-fast car. Two problems in particular grow exponentially the faster a car goes: the drag factor and the wheels. The problem with wheels is this. The faster the wheel goes, the more force exerts itself upon the wheel (through its own inertia). When a wheel spins too fast, it will literally break apart. The fastest a car can go right now is 277 miles an hour––any faster and the rubber will basically blow off. So how did the wheels on the Thrust SSC (the car that broke the sound barrier) survive? This video explains.
Full story at YouTube.
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